Remember Me
by turntoPaige394
Summary: For 13 years, Sen was dreaming of a river and catching glimpses of memories she no longer had. But even when Sen does manage to regain her memories & make it back to the Spirit World, she still doesn't recognize Haku. With Yubaba out for revenge, Sen is left with two choices: overcome Yubaba's magic or risk losing the only man she's ever loved. *M rating is for mild violence*
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Spirited Away or any of its amazing characters. Now please, enjoy. ^.^**

**...**

_There she was, completely surrounded by turquoise water. She could feel the sun's warm rays penetrating the surface and finding her face beneath the waves like it always did. Under normal circumstances, one would drown only minutes after being submerged under water like this._

_ But not her, and certainly not here._

_ She sighed contentedly, little bubbles escaping her lips and floating to the surface. She had been suspended peacefully within this river for hours now, letting the current gently move her wherever it wished. How many times had she come here? How many more would it allow her? Surely this river would not permit someone to lounge around inside of it without demanding something in return. Surely this river would someday demand the very oxygen from her lungs as payment._

_ But it demanded nothing so far, so she kept coming._

_ Her chocolaty brown hair billowed angelically around her face as she took in deep breath after deep breath, inhaling not water, but cool, crisp springtime air. She wasn't quite sure why she never got lungfuls of river water, but as long as the river allowed her to breathe, the method didn't really matter. After all, this was _her_ place, the one place she could come and feel whole._

_ "I've missed you," the river around her whispered._

_ At first, she had been shocked when the river spoke to her; she had even convinced herself that it had all been in her imagination. But every time since the first time she submerged herself, the river spoke to her, its first phrase always being the same: "I've missed you." The first time she heard the river say this, she didn't know how to respond. Before this particular river, she had never been fond of water. However, the more she visited this sacred place, the more she grew to miss it when she was away. Finally, there came a day when the river whispered, "I've missed you" and she was able to reply. Now, her reply to the river's first phrase was always the same._

_ "I never should have left," she smirked as the river swirled around her limbs as it always did when she answered that way._

_ Sometimes the river spoke to her often, asking her about her days and regaling her with tales of what it had been doing while she was away. Other times it was completely silent after it welcomed her with its inaugural "I've missed you". Either way she was happy; just being with the river was enough for her… most of the time._

_ "Do you think it will always be like this?" She asked, a hint of sadness coloring her voice. "Will we only ever have these brief moments?"_

_ The river became calm again, but said nothing._

_ She closed her eyes, a knot forming in the pit of her stomach, "I thought so."_

_ For the briefest of moments, she felt gentle fingers caress her cheek in comfort. As soon as she opened her eyes, they were gone._

_ "I do not have an answer," the river replied sorrowfully. "This is the closest I can get to you for now."_

_ Unwilling to let the uncertainty of the future ruin her all-too rare visits to the river, she smiled and began to swim with her face towards the sun, "I would rather have this than nothing at all."_

_..._

"Oh!" Sen gasped as she abruptly shot up in her bed, clutching at her chest in an attempt to calm her racing heart. She pushed the intrusive brown bangs out of her eyes and looked around the small, messy apartment she called home. There were textbooks open on the floor, clothes crumpled in piles, a laptop half open next to some homework. Like usual, everything was completely normal.

Everything except her.

She fell back onto her pillow, right hand still held above her heart. Most nights were completely ordinary with completely ordinary dreams; but on the nights when she dreamt about the river she had never been to, she always woke up in a panic. It was like her brain was trying to protect her from something, though she could never imagine what. The river dreams were the ones she both yearned for and dreaded at the same time. It was impossible to brush aside the pure ecstasy she harbored after those dreams, but it was also impossible to brush aside the loneliness and the pain they brought as well. Sen had never been to the river she dreamt about; she didn't even like the water that much. But night after night, she found herself hoping to have that dream because she found herself missing that river during the day. Of course, missing something she had never seen made no sense so Sen actively suppressed any thoughts of the river as much as she could. But every so often, the river would come to her in her dreams and make her miss things she never had; things that she didn't have names for.

"Please," she softly begged the ceiling. "Please let me sleep. I can't handle these weird dreams anymore."

There was no reply, only silence surrounding her in the moon-lit apartment.

Sen let out a frustrated sigh as she ripped the sparkling purple hair-band from the back of her head where it held her long brown hair in a ponytail. Just as she was about to toss it carelessly onto the floor next to her bed, Sen took one more look at the purple band. Without knowing why, she placed the hair-band gently onto her bedside table next to a small picture she had drawn. Sen pulled the blankets up to her neck and looked at the picture, knowing eventually she would have more dreams about that, too.

"I can't keep doing this," she muttered to herself sleepily. "I have to lay off the reading, exams are coming up."

As she drifted off to sleep, calculating what she needed to get on her upcoming exams to pass her classes with a decent grade, the hand-drawn picture of a black figure with no face watched over her hair band. The white noh-mask's vacant expression was the only thing in the apartment illuminated by the light of the moon, the name _Chihiro Ogino_ scrawled delicately at the bottom of the picture in Sen's handwriting.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hello, earth to Sen!"

Sen quickly snapped out of her daydream about the river as she felt her friend shaking her shoulder, "Huh? What?"

The short, bubbly girl in front of her bounced up and down with excitement, "Didn't you hear what the professor said? Exams are postponed a whole week!"

"That's great! I could really use the extra time," relief flooded Sen's whole body. With all the strange river dreams she'd been having, she was almost always too exhausted to study. Not that she really minded all that much, considering how much she hated her major.

"Do you maybe want to go out tonight? There's a new bar down the street from my apartment that everyone's talking about."

Sen hesitated, feeling something nagging at the back of her mind. Immediately feeling silly for thinking such a thing, she shook it off as lack of sleep. Still, she couldn't bring herself to go out with her friend, "No, I don't think so Aya. I really should make an effort to get caught up on my homework tonight."

Aya frowned, tousling her short black hair in what Sen recognized as annoyance, "You never want to go out. It's like you're not interested in having a social life or something."

Sen said nothing because it was true; she had no desire to have a social life with anyone she knew. Ever since she was 10 year old, she had much desired the company of books or just herself as opposed to that of other people. It was strange because she had not always been that way. Before she was 10, Sen enjoyed having a lot of friends and being social with the other children. But after her 10th birthday, her father's company promoted him and gave him a pay raise, which naturally meant that her family would be moving to a nicer home closer to his job. The actual move was just a big blank memory for her; she could not remember a single thing even though she remembered events before it. Her parents chalked her amnesia up to being stressed and unhappy about the move, but Sen always felt like there was something more buried in the depths of her mind. As if her lack of memories were not weird enough, Sen had awoken the day after her family moved with the purple hair-band she now held so dear in her hair with no memory of where she got it.

Not only did she wake up with a new, unbreakable hair-band, but suddenly her name didn't seem to fit her anymore, either.

_Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzz._

"Sorry Aya, that's my phone buzzing," Sen reached into her bag for her phone and saw that it was her parents calling. "I gotta take this. I'll see you on Monday."

Aya was still clearly disappointed but she simply waved and left.

"Hey dad," she answered the phone. "You have good timing, I'm just leaving class."

"And how was class today, Chihiro?" Her father replied, undoubtedly smiling as he always was.

"Ugh, dad please don't call me that. You know I don't like it."

She could hear him sigh on the other end, "Sorry, sorry. How was class today, Sen?"

"Oh, it was fine," she said. "Same old, same old. Math doesn't really change that much."

He chuckled, "No I suppose it doesn't. Oh, your mother says hello. She's making dinner."

"Be sure to tell her I love her."

"I will."

There was a long moment of awkwardness, but it was normal for them now. That was another new development since her family moved when she was 10; she no longer felt like she connected with them on any level. Quite frankly, she didn't feel like she connected with anyone.

"Hey dad, I have a quick question before I have to go. It's just something I've been wondering," she was pulling out her car keys now and she didn't like to talk on her phone while driving.

"Sure, Chihi—I mean, Sen. What is it?"

She paused for a brief moment, "Did anything ever happen to me when I was little… with water?"

"What do you mean?"

Sen bit her lip in embarrassment, realizing how silly this all must sound to someone else, "I've just been having a lot of dreams lately about water. A river, I think. It's nothing bad or scary… I actually seem to enjoy being there. I was just wondering about my experiences with water when I was little because you know I don't really like water now except for this dream."

Now her father was the one to pause, "I think I remember we took a trip to a river and you fell in. About gave your mother and I a heart attack! We couldn't find you for what seemed like forever but then we turned around and you were just sitting on the bank of the river, soaked to the bone. You weren't upset or scared though, you were smiling. You said the river helped you come back," he chuckled for a moment. "Oh, to have the imagination of a child again."

Once again, something was tugging at the edges of her mind. Why couldn't she remember this? And if she had been happy even after falling in the river, why did she dislike water now? "Do you remember the name of the river, dad? I think I want to go see it."

"Hmmm… I know it started with a K. It was something like Kamako, or Kohama… Ah, let me ask your mother."

There was a brief moment of muttering in the background before she heard her mother come on the line, "Hi, sweetheart. You know, that river we went to is covered by apartments now about an hour from your apartment. Are you sure you want to drive that far? I'm not even sure there is any water left there."

Sen thought for a moment, tugging her ponytail anxiously. Something was compelling her to know more about this river, and if her experience as a kid with this river made her hate water yet yearn for it at the same time, she wanted to know why. "Yeah mom, I think I want to just go there. Even if the river isn't there anymore, I think it would help me get over this weird aversion I have to water. Do you know the name of it?"

She could hear her mother flipping through something quickly, "Ah, here we go. I found a picture of you from that trip. Let's see here… oh, that's right! It was called the Kohaku river."

At that very moment, Sen's whole body went rigid and she heard the voice of the river from her dream whisper in her ear:

_"I've missed you."_


	3. Chapter 3

Sen had driven home in a daze. She couldn't help but keep turning that name over and over in her mind.

_Kohaku. Kohaku. Kohaku._

Something about that name made her heart ache and her eyes well with tears. Frustrated, Sen angrily wiped the moisture from her dark brown eyes and set her mouth in a deep frown. Why did she know that name? Why did it make her sad to hear it spoken? All of these vaguely familiar things tugging at the edges of her mind were really starting to get on her nerves. Not to mention that the big holes in her childhood memories were starting to concern her as well.

For what seemed like the millionth time, she sighed, slumping down in her seat and resting her forehead against the steering wheel. Why did she have to dredge up all these things from her past now? She was only a year away from graduating… although she wasn't terribly thrilled about it. Come to think of it, she wasn't terribly thrilled about anything anymore. For so long, her life seemed to be completely black and white without any splashes of color. Sen certainly wasn't depressed, but there was definitely something missing. The only things that really brought her contentment anymore was drawing the strange creatures that she saw in her dreams: a black figure with a noh-mask for a face, an extremely old woman with a large bird-like nose and countless wrinkles, an average-looking brunette woman in her late twenties, a boy with turquoise hair…

She drew countless pictures of the boy with blue-green hair.

And she was sick of it.

Sen glanced at the clock gleaming in her dashboard. It was only 6:00 and it wouldn't get dark until at least 9 or 9:30 since it was the beginning of summer. If she left now, she could get to the place where the Kohaku River used to be and have some time to look around before the sun went down. Maybe then she would finally find some answers. She eagerly started her car and googled the directions to her destination; she wanted to leave before she too much about this trip, because she knew without a doubt that she would change her mind if she did.

Stomping on the gas pedal, Sen weaved in and out of traffic, relying solely on her phone's navigation and praying it was accurate. The whole drive, her mind and heart were racing frantically. Would she find anything at this place? What exactly was she looking for? What did she expect to happen? Despite not having any answers to her own questions, she kept driving, determined to get _something_ out of this endeavor.

_"Destination on the left in 500 feet," _her phone chimed robotically, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Sen felt her heart hammer painfully inside her chest; this was it, the moment she had long anticipated. She turned into the small apartment complex but as she drove further into the property, found herself a bit surprised. The place was completely ordinary, with only three small, two story buildings paneled in a plain beige with blue trim. Large Momiji and Matsu trees immediately surrounded the buildings like a wall of greenery, giving the place an overall calmness. She parked in an empty space as far from the actual buildings as she could and then clutched her steering wheel tightly, taking deep breaths to keep herself from slipping into a panic attack.

"I shouldn't feel like this," she chided herself. "I don't even remember this place."

After a few more deep breaths, Sen finally mustered the courage to get out of her car. For a long time, all she did was look around. It was hard to believe that the concrete she was standing on was once a large river that affected her life so deeply. She knelt down and touched her fingers to the warm pavement; it was a silly gesture, but she felt compelled to be closer to the water she hoped was flowing beneath the concrete.

Suddenly, the wind whipped around her violently, causing her hair to thrash around her face in all directions. She thought it was odd because the wind had been calm all day, but she decided to ignore it; it was probably just her overactive imagination at work again. Once the wind died down, Sen could hear the faint sounds of rushing water in the distance. Unable to stop herself, she started running towards it. Only seconds after pushing through the brush that was at the base of the Momiji and Matsu trees, she found herself at the bank of a very small stream that was narrow enough to be crossed by foot.

This was all that was left of the great Kohaku River.

Sen sat on the bank next to the stream and stared at it for a long time. When the sun penetrated the tops of the trees and glinted off the surface of the water, it looked almost turquoise… just like the water in her dreams. Still feeling compelled by something she didn't understand, Sen slipped off her sandals and submerged her feet in the warm, shallow water.

...

The frog spirit observed from the shadowy brush across the stream from her; watching, waiting. When she first approached the water, she was clearly hesitant and something about her face was wrong. That's why at first he wasn't even sure this was the right girl. But the very moment her skin touched the water it was like her entire demeanor changed; her face lit up and she let out a huge sigh of relief. She even immersed her hands in the water and splashed some on her bare legs. When she smiled at the stream, he knew.

Sen.

It had been 13 years and she'd certainly aged, something spirits were seldom familiar with. That was why it took him so long to find her and properly identify her; she was no longer the scrawny child that had accidentally stumbled upon their world one day with her parents. She was taller now, still scrawny but built with a little more muscle tone, and her dark mahogany ponytail was now to the middle of her back. He may not have known it was her if it weren't for her uncannily similar outfit to the one she had worn 13 years ago. She sat on the bank in small pink shorts and a white and green striped t-shirt. Even her sandals were yellow, exactly as her shoes had been the day she arrived.

Aogaeru had come to this place often over the last 13 years, waiting for the day when Sen would undoubtedly return. After all, the memory spell wouldn't last forever and sooner or later she would start to get curious about the pieces she began to remember. Luckily for him, that day had finally come.

The frog smoothed his blue jinbei shirt and tightened the sash keeping the shirt closed. Sen clearly hadn't remembered everything yet, which was all the better for him. If he could just find a way to somehow lure her back to the Spirit Gate before it closed again, he would become a very rich spirit indeed. Sure, Sen would probably never be allowed to leave but that wasn't his problem. The only thing in his sights was the large bag of gold pieces that had been dangled in front of him 13 years ago. That, and the fact that he would most likely be skinned if he failed to bring her back.

As the sun began to set, Sen started to look around as though she knew she should leave. This was his chance. She began to reach for her bright yellow sandals when Aogaeru hopped from his hiding place onto the bank directly across from Sen. She looked up, her facial expression conveying that she was confused as to why a frog was wearing a shirt. The frog spirit stood up, surveying her for a moment before his nasally voice addressed her.

"Hello, Sen. It's been a long time."

And she fainted.


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: The flashback scene written in italics is word for word from the American version of the movie Spirited Away. I do not own it and I did not come up with it, I only thought it was necessary as Chihiro (or Sen) begins to recover more of her memories. That scene is alllllll Hayao Miyazaki's. :)**

When she finally came to, Sen opened her eyes to see a small green frog staring down at her surrounded by the warm colors of dusk. She was desperately trying to remember what happened, but before she could put the pieces together, the frog spoke again.

"Are you alright?"

"Gahh!" Sen shouted, jumping up and shoving herself away from the talking frog. Now she remembered why she fainted.

"Please, Sen. Calm down," The frog said. "Don't you remember me?"

She furrowed her brow as she pulled her legs into her chest, "I think I would remember a _talking frog _wearing a jinbei shirt."

He laughed a high-pitched, nasally laugh as he hopped closer to her, "I can't say I'm surprised. After all, you haven't seen me for 13 years. And even then we only met a few times."

"13…" Sen calculated. "You're saying I met you when I was 10? But how can that be? I don't remember… much from when I was that age."

"And didn't you ever think that was strange? That you had memories before you were 10 and after, but not so much in between? Didn't you wonder where it all went?" The frog titled his head as he questioned her. "Didn't you ever want to know why?"

Sen felt those elusive things tugging at the edges of her consciousness again. She _did_ wonder all those things and she desperately wanted to know why she lost such a large portion of her memories. She wanted it all.

But something about this frog was setting alarm bells off in her head.

"Who are you?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

The frog stood and bowed majestically, "I am Aogaeru, servant of the Bath House of the Spirits."

"S… spirits?" She repeated. "Like ghosts?"

He shook his head, "No, no. Spirits are just… well, the beings of the Spirit world; much like humans are the beings of this world. There are good one and bad ones as well, just like humans. And we servants of the Bath House make it our job to replenish the spirits who are weary or weak."

Sen took this all in, "Okay… so let's say I believe you. How did we meet then?"

Aogaeru shook his head again, "Ah, Sen I'm sure you are full of questions, but I'm not allowed to answer them." At the disappointment and sadness that crossed Sen's face, the frog added very quickly, "But I know someone who can."

Her head snapped up, "Really? Who?!"

A sinister expression flashed across the frog spirit's green face, "Yubaba, the witch who rules the Bath House."

Sen hesitated, frightened by the devilish look that overtook the small frog's face when he spoke the name of the woman who could help her.

As quickly as his face changed, it changed right back again. He smiled, "She is very powerful, so she might be able to lift whatever spell was put on you. Then you would have your memories back."

"Wait a second. You think someone put a spell on me to take away my memories?"

He shrugged, "Only Yubaba could say for sure. But if I had to guess, I would say so."

Sen's shoulders slumped, overwhelmed by all the new information she was getting, "I don't understand. Why would someone...? What did I ever…? How did they…?"

Aogaeru hopped over to her and put his hands on her knee, "I can take you to Yubaba. She is kind and generous, never turning down someone in need. She is the only spirit powerful enough to help you find the answers you're looking for."

Sen's sadness quickly turned to anger. Someone had taken away her memories. Someone _knew_ why she was the way she was now. Someone made her this way. And she definitely intended to find out who.

"Aogaeru, take me to Yubaba," she said with a firm determination. "If she's the only one who can help me, then I want to meet her."

He smiled wickedly, "She will be pleased to see you again."

...

High above the ground, among the green canopy that the Momiji and Matsu trees provided, flew a bird with the body of a crow and the head of an old woman. It glided slowly through the nighttime air as it followed Sen and Aogaeru. The bird circled lower, ensuring it didn't lose the two traveling companions as they walked through the forest. She had been following the two for miles now, growing more and more vigilant as they came closer to the Spirit Gate. Aogaeru had finally done his job.

The bird blinked twice, opening a channel through which her master could see into the human world. In this state, her eyes acted as her master's eyes.

"So, he finally found her," an old woman with a gravelly voice said in the bird's head as she looked down. "Perfect. I can't wait to see the look on Haku's face when she comes walking through our doors again."

The bird made a soft _cawing _sound, low enough that the two below her would not hear.

Her master paused, hearing the sound she made, "Do not toy with me, Yu-bird. I've waited for this for 13 years."

Yu-bird _cawed_ softly again.

Her master took a long drag on a cigarette, "No memories of this place, you say? Well, well that certainly is something new. Aogaeru had his suspicions about that."

Once again, she _cawed_.

There was a long chuckle, "No, no Yu-bird. The fact that little Chihiro doesn't remember anything of this place is all the better. I will crush Haku with this. I will manipulate that little brat's feeble mind until she hates Haku and it will tear him apart. And then, when I have taken everything from him, I will make _her_ my apprentice and she can do with Haku whatever she wishes. That will teach him to make a fool out of me in front of _my_ Bath House and to steal what is mine. She was my best worker, after all."

Yu-bird then felt the channel to her master close behind her eyes.

...

After walking through what seemed like miles of forest, Aogaeru finally stopped in front of a large tunnel. In the moonlight, Sen could see that the red paint was peeling and chipping away, and vines were growing up the sides. Directly in the middle of the entrance was a small, egg-shaped statue of a creature that was smiling at all who approached. There was not a sound other than the forest for miles.

"Beyond this tunnel is the Spirit world," the frog told her. "Are you ready?"

She took a deep breath, readying herself to answer him. But before she could, something deeply buried within the recesses of her mind flashed before her eyes.

_10 year-old Chihiro and her parents were standing in front of the red tunnel, her father admiring the peeling red paint boldly._

"_This building's not old, it's fake," he said, running his hands across the paint. "These stones are just made of plaster."_

_The wind howled through the tunnel and pushed at Chihiro's back as if to usher her inside._

"_The wind's pulling us in," she said._

"_What is it?" Her mother asked._

"_Come on, let's go in. I wanna see what's on the other side," her father suggested excitedly._

"_I'm not going," Chihiro whined. "It gives me the creeps."_

_He looked down at her, smiling, "Don't be such a scaredy-cat, Chihiro. Let's just take a look."_

_Her mother was unconvinced, "The movers will get to our house before we do."_

"_It's alright. They've got the keys. They can start without us."_

"…_Alright, just a quick look."_

_Chihiro clinged to her father's arm, "Forget it. I'm not going!" She darted back to the car. "Come on, you guys. Let's get out of here."_

_Her father smiled like he always did, "Come on honey. It'll be fun."_

"_I'm not going!" She shouted again._

"_Chihiro, just wait in the car then," her mother said. _

"_But mom!" Chihiro cried as her parents began walking down the tunnel. She stood there alone for a brief moment before changing her mind. "Wait for me!"_

_She held tightly to her mother's arm when her father turned to them, "Everybody watch your step."_

"_Chihiro, don't cling like that. You'll make me trip."_

_The three of them made their way down the tunnel until they came out into an old room filled with benches and water fountains._

"_What is this place?" Chihiro asked._

_Her mother put a hand to her ear as there was rumbling in the distance, "Oh, do you hear that?"_

"_It sounds like a train!" Her 10 year-old voice chimed._

"_We must be near a train station."_

_Her father began walking again, "Come on, let's go check it out."_

_When they emerged from the plaster building, they were at the edge of a beautiful rolling green meadow, with grass so high it almost covered the numerous egg-shaped statues that matched the one at the front of the tunnel. In the distance, they could see a cluster of buildings like a small town._

"_What are those weird buildings?" Chihiro asked._

"_I knew it. It's an abandoned theme park. See?" He gestured above them, towards the uppermost part of the building they had just come out of, which was topped with a large pagoda-like clock. "They built them everywhere in the early '90s. Then the economy went bad and they all went bankrupt. This must be one of them."_

_Her parents began to walk toward the cluster of buildings when Chihiro panicked again, "Where are you going? You said just a quick look! Now let's go back!" When they ignored her, she yelled again. "Hey!"_

_The wind whipped leaves at Chihiro's back, once again ushering her further into the meadow._

"Sen! Sen!" Something small was smacking her kneecap. "Sen! Are you alright?"

Sen blinked a few times before remembering where she was. She looked down to see the frog staring up at her in confusion. "Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry, Aogaeru I just… I think I just had a memory from my first time here."

His eyes widened, almost enough to look concerned, "You did?"

She nodded, "I came through this tunnel with my parents. On the other side there's a large green meadow… and a cluster of buildings in the distance. …That's all I remembered, though."

He tugged on her ankle anxiously, "Well then, it looks like we brought you to the right place! Now let's get go before the Spirit Gate closes again. I wouldn't want you to miss your chance to see Yubaba!"

Sen's racing heart slowed itself as she followed Aogaeru through the red tunnel. Something about this place just felt right.

She was home.


	5. Chapter 5

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys! Sorry it took so long, but we are finally back at the Bath House! Sen is getting more of her memories back all the time and Aogaeru is clearly worried. Will she remember those she was closest to when she sees them? Since she was 10, Sen drew hundreds of pictures of the boy with blue-green hair even though she couldn't remember who he was. I bet she'll be happy to meet the boy she's thought of for 13 years! Also, no she doesn't know who the river in her dreams is yet, but she loves it anyway. Oh, and if you guys ever have any questions, feel free to let me know. :)**

**...**

Sen followed Aogaeru down a short path that cut through the middle of the field, over a rock-filled dry river bed, up to a dirt path lined with odd looking restaurant stands that were completely lit and filled with shadowy black figures. They walked in silence for a long time as she was caught up in her thoughts. The frog hadn't been lying; she had most definitely been here before with her parents. Slowly but surely, bits and pieces of her memories were returning.

She looked down when she noticed her hand felt strange. Lifting it to her face, Sen could see right through it. "Uhm, Aogaeru…?"

The frog didn't look stop or look back, "We have to keep going. The Bath House is surely busy by now so Yubaba won't have a lot of time to talk to you, but if we get there soon we might get lucky."

Something else flashed in her mind. Something small, round, and red.

A berry?

"Aogaeru, I think… I think I need to eat something."

He was clearly getting frustrated, "There's plenty of food at the Bath House. You can eat when we get there. It's only a short distance from here; don't you see the stairs ahead?"

She noticed her legs were becoming transparent as well. This time, her voice was shaking, "I don't think I'll make it to the Bath House!"

Aogaeru let out a frustrated groan before finally turning around. When he saw that she was almost completely see-through, he gasped. "Ah! I completely forgot" He hopped to a nearby food stand and grabbed something grey. Before the spirit who ran the stand could yell at him, he hopped back to Sen. "Here, eat this."

Sen eyed the grey mass skeptically, but seeing as she didn't want to disappear, she forced herself to take it and pop it into her mouth. Her eyes widened in shock as she chewed; no wonder her parents hadn't been able to stop eating the spirit's food, it was the most wonderful thing she had ever tasted!

She froze at this thought, "…My parents ate the food at one of the stands. They turned into… pigs, I think?"

Aogaeru hopped up and down anxiously, "It seems like more and more of your memory is coming back!" He tugged at her ankle, harder this time. "Come, come. We have to see Yubaba!"

Excited at the prospect of getting all of her memories back, Sen eagerly followed the frog down the remainder of the path and up the stone steps. When they reached the top, she stopped. The bath house before her was magnificent, with red paint and green tiling atop the many pagodas. Every window was lit with a warm yellow glow and there was a loud buzz of contentment that floated from the building to the bridge.

"Oh!" Sen felt compelled to run to the large red railing of the bridge and look down. A short train went rumbling by on the tracks below, reminding her of something.

"Sen!" Aogaeru called. "Come on!"

She reluctantly pulled herself from the railing and followed the little frog once again. The closer they got to the main gate, Sen felt herself becoming more and more anxious. Something was pulling her in, compelling her to enter the bath house in front of her. Her heart ached; it was longing for something from a long, long time ago. But what?

Her right foot crossed the threshold of the Bath House and everything went black.

...

_The warm turquoise water caressed her skin like it always did. She smiled lazily, bubbles escaping past her lips. There was no sun this time, only moonlight reached her face through the crystalline waves. The river seemed different this time, though she couldn't exactly tell why. Something just felt wrong._

_ "I've missed you."_

_ She opened her eyes in panic. The river's voice wasn't right. "What's wrong?"_

_ The river swirled around her hair, "You shouldn't be here."_

_ Those words were like knives in her heart; this was the only place she ever wanted to be. "Don't you want me anymore?"_

_ Water danced in circles around her body, "I always want you."_

_ "Then why are you trying to send me away?" She choked._

_ The river once again sent the ghost hands to cup her face, though she could clearly see there was nothing there. Invisible fingers traced her features, "I tried to save you, but you found your back nonetheless. I tried to keep you away because I knew if you returned, you would never want to leave. But I don't know if I can protect you here. My magic isn't as strong as hers."_

_ She reached up to grab the invisible fingers as if to comfort the river, but she could only feel her own skin. "What would you have to protect me from?"_

_ "You will remember soon enough. The spell was not meant to work in this world. That's why it's wearing off."_

_ Her stomach made an uncomfortable flip, "You know about the spell? Can you tell me what happened to me when I was 10?_

_ The river did not answer her question, "When it wears off, you'll understand. But I don't know how long it will be until then."_

_ "That's why I've come here; the hopefully find some answers. The frog spirit said Yubaba may be able to help me."_

_ The river grew angry, tossing her around as its waves roared beneath the surface. Even though it was upset, she was not afraid. The river would never hurt her. She remained silent, letting it toss her to and fro until it was satisfied. When the water finally calmed again, she felt a large wave of embarrassment and guilt ripple through the waves._

_ "I'm sorry," the river whispered. "That was inexcusable."_

_ She looked up towards the surface, her voice gentle, "Tell me why you were angry."_

_ "I don't trust her. I'm afraid she will hurt you."_

_ "If you're so worried, then come and find me."_

_ The river was very still for a moment, "Chihiro…"_

_ She sighed, knowing exactly what he was going to say, "You know, you are the only one allowed to call me that."_

_ "I will always call you that. That was your name when I first met you and that was your name when you saved me."_

_ Knowing the river would not answer her if she asked what it meant about her saving it, she chose to ignore the comment altogether. "Why don't you want to see me?" She asked instead, unable to hide the sadness in her voice._

_ There was only silence for what seemed like hours. When the river finally answered her, its voice was nothing more than a whisper. "Because I'm afraid."_

_ "Afraid of what?"_

_ The water swirled around her again, "That you might remember how much I loved you."_

_..._

"Is that Sen?!"

"Somebody better go get Rin, she'll never believe this!"

"Is she alright?"

"Ugh, she stinks so bad!"

"Someone shake her again!"

"I can't believe she just collapsed like that."

Sen could hear a cluster of voices somewhere above her. Had she fainted _again_? She seemed to be doing that a lot today. The last thing she remembered was walking into the Bath House before a sharp pain hit her right in the temple. Could it be…?

She opened her eyes slowly, grateful that there were plenty of spirits around her willing to help her up. When she was back on her feet, she looked around.

And recognized every single thing she saw.

Before she even had time to realize what that meant, spirits of all types were bombarding her.

"Sen, it's so good to have you back!" The foreman shook her hand warmly.

"We've missed you so much!" Said the group of women who initially rejected taking her on when she first came to the Bath House.

Even the cooks were happy to see her. "Just let us know anytime you're hungry! We will make anything you like!"

Just then, a weasel spirit in her late twenties pushed through the crowd, dressed in the same pink outfit all the women who cleaned the Bath House wore. When she saw Sen, her face lit up while her mouth hung open.

"Sen!" She shouted, throwing her arms around her. "I can't believe it's really you!"

"Rin! I've missed you so much!" Sen cried, burying her face into Rin's shoulder. She was overwhelmed not only with happiness for seeing her friend again, but also with happiness for remembering who Rin was. That must have been the sharp pain in her temple that caused her to faint; her memories had returned the moment she entered the Bath House. As the river in her dreams said: the spell wasn't meant to work here.

"You're definitely not a scrawny little kid anymore!" Rin chuckled, pulling away so she could look at Sen. "You grew up so beautifully!"

Sen blushed, "Thank you, Rin. You look wonderful, too!"

Aogaeru managed to push through everyone's legs, "Ahem. Sorry Rin, but I have to take her straight to Yubaba. She needs—"

"I need another contract before I can start working. Yes, I remember," Sen smiled.

Rin hugged her again, "You're planning on staying this time?!"

She couldn't stop smiling; all of the memories of her last visit to the Spirit world running through her mind and filling her with happiness. Even the bad ones. One thing she knew from the very bottom of her soul was that this place was her home. "Most definitely."

Aogaeru hopped onto Rin's shoulder, "That's all well and good, but I _must_ take her to Yubaba right away."

Rin pushed the frog spirit roughly off her shoulder and grabbed Sen's arm, "Don't worry Aogaeru, I'll take her. You've got some new customers in your section that need attention anyway."

Unable to push through the large crowd with Rin and Sen, Aogaeru was left fuming, trapped by the wall of legs. "I better still get my reward," he muttered angrily. "It's not my fault her memories came back."

...

Rin didn't stop talking for a single second in the elevator on the way to Yubaba's office, but Sen didn't mind. It was so wonderful to be able to remember all the things she was talking about.

"I just can't believe you're really here! If you think I'm excited, I can only imagine how excited Haku will be," she said with a sly smile on her face, eying Sen mischievously.

Sen turned to Rin, her eyebrows furrowed, "Haku?"

"Ah, here we are!" Rin opened the elevator doors and nudged Sen out of it. "I can't go with you, as I'm sure you remember. I'm pretty sure Yubaba will assign you to me again, so I will see you when you come back down. Miss you already!" And the elevator doors closed.

Sen hesitated for a moment before making her way to the large, ornate double doors that held Yubaba's office. The enormous, ugly, golden-headed doorknockers were still mounted on the doors. One of them eyed her suspiciously.

"I recognize that ditzy face," the doorknocker quipped. "You were uglier last time I saw you."

She pursed her lips in displeasure, "And you're still just as rude as ever."

The doorknocker rolled its eyes, but before it could be snarky again, Sen grabbed it and knocked, a little harder than necessary, three times.

The door immediately swung open, followed by that raspy voice she remembered all too well. "Come in, child."

Just like last time, Sen found herself frozen in the doorway and just like last time, Yubaba used her magic to drag her in. When she made it to the main room, Sen managed to keep her balance and not land on her face like she had the first time.

Yubaba looked exactly the same: matronly light blonde bun piled on top of a withered and wrinkled face, gaudy blue eye shadow that matched her slightly frilly blue gown, large mole in the middle of her forehead, obnoxious hooked nose and equally obnoxious gold earrings. She took a long drag on her cigarette before addressing Sen.

"I was wondering when you would come back," Yubaba chuckled in her gravelly voice. "Though I am surprised it took you so long."

Sen narrowed her eyes, "_Someone_ used a spell to cover my memories of this place."

Yubaba looked incredibly disinterested, "Well don't look at me. I didn't do it."

"Oh," Sen backpedaled. "Sorry. I just assumed…"

"Yes, yes I'm sure you did. Now, what is it you want? I don't have all day."

She took a deep breath and strengthened her resolve, "I got my memories back when I walked into the Bath House. Now that I remember everything from last time, I want to ask for my job back."

Yubaba put out her cigarette and gave her full attention to Sen, "You got them back, you say? How interesting…"

Sen frowned, "Why does that matter? I just want my job again."

The witch thought for a moment, "Hm… I guess I don't understand. If you remember everything that happened the last time you were, why would you _want_ a job again and why you even think I would _give_ you a job again? Do you remember how much money you cost me?"

She blushed, "Of course I remember. I let No-Face into the Bath House and he destroyed everything, along with swallowing 3 people. I just…" Sen fidgeted with her fingers. "This is the only place I have ever felt like I belonged. I have so many friends here. And quite honestly, I have no desire to go back to my world. Please Yubaba, will you give me my job back?"

Yubaba sighed, obviously disappointed about something, "Stupid oath," she mumbled. "Fine. I will give you your job back. But if you _ever_ run away again, even if it is to see my worthless sister, I will give you to the kitchens and you will be dinner. Have I made myself perfectly clear?"

Sen smiled so wide it hurt, "Yes, ma'am!" She bowed over and over. "I will do my very best."

Yubaba sent a scrap of levitating parchment to Sen, along with a quill. "You know how this goes, sign your name away. We will just call you Sen again."

She eagerly grabbed the quill and signed the parchment 荻野 千尋. When the parchment floated back over to the witch, she once again absorbed Sen's birth name into the palm of her hand, leaving only 千 on the paper.

"You can start tomorrow. For now, I'll have Haku take you to Rin's quarters again so you can get your clothes and get settled," Yubaba said, already focusing on something else on her desk. "Haku?" She called.

A slender yet muscular man in his mid-twenties walked into the room wearing a familiar looking white kimono tied with a purple sash, blue knee-length pants, and wooden sandals. His radiant turquoise hair fell to the middle of his back tied with a sash and framing his face were straight bangs complimented by a section of hair on each side that hung to his collarbone; the eyes that surveyed her were deep pools of majestic jade. Sen had to catch her breath as her heart tried to hammer out of her chest at the sight of him.

"Hello… Sen," the man said, his gentle voice seeping through her skin and mingling with her veins, becoming a part of her very soul.

She blushed furiously and bowed to hide her face, "Hello! You must be Master Haku."

Whoever this man was, he made Sen feel things she'd never felt before. Something about him called out to her, making her heart ache with that strange loneliness again. But there was something else, too…

She _knew_ his voice.

She _loved _his voice.

She_ craved_ his voice.

But that was all ridiculous… she had never met this man before.

...

...

**Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!** **That's right guys! She got all of her memories back except the memories of Haku! Those are still buried. I was going to end this chapter with Yubaba's reaction to finding out that Sen doesn't remember Haku, but I decided to end it here instead. Suffice it to say, Yubaba is thrilled with this little turn of events. She is still planning on trying to manipulate Sen to get back at Haku and this proved the perfect opportunity for her. I'm so excited to share more with you guys soon!**

**Also, I may have to change the rating from 'T' to 'M' if I go through with some of the ideas I have. Eh, we'll see. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed my favorite chapter so far! ^.^**


	6. Chapter 6

_"I've missed you," said the river in its usual fashion._

_ For the first time, she didn't know how to answer. Instead, she floated in silence, a deep blush staining her cheeks._

_ The river sent the invisible hands to caress her warm cheeks, "What's the matter, Chihiro?"_

_ She bit her lip, unsure of what to say. She didn't want to hurt the river, but she wanted to be honest. She wasn't a liar. _

_ "My love," the river soothed, "you can tell me anything. I will never get angry with you."_

_ It took a moment, but she managed to find the words. "I met someone today."_

_ "Oho?" The river chuckled. "I assume it was a man?"_

_ "Why would you just assume that?!" She shouted, cheeks reddening._

_ Voice still full of amusement, the river simply said, "Chihiro..."_

_ "Oh… well… yes… it was."_

_ The river's voice was gentle, "Tell me about him."_

_ She hesitated, "I think I may have… maybe met him before. I don't know why, but something about him was so familiar. And I used to draw a little boy that looked exactly like him if he were 10 years younger. But that couldn't be… I got all my memories back already. If I had met him before, wouldn't I remember?"_

_ The water swirled her hair around like it often enjoyed doing, "What did he look like?"_

_ "He was…" Her heart skipped a beat. "Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. He has long blue-green hair, the exact color of your water… and green eyes like nothing I've ever seen before. I don't know how else to describe him; he was like something out of a dream."_

_ The river chuckled again, "I see."_

_ She titled her face to the moonlight, "But his _voice… _his voice sounded just like yours. Exactly the same. When he spoke, it was like his words went right through me. Something in my heart knew him."_

_ For a long time, there was nothing but silence._

_ "Are you… mad at me?" She asked sheepishly._

_ The river sent the ghost hands to touch her face like always, but this time she also felt a light brush of someone's lips against her forehead. "On the contrary, Chihiro. I don't think I have been this happy in a very long time."_

_..._

Haku lingered at the top of the stairs, patiently waiting for Rin to come charging up them with her and Sen's breakfast. He only had to wait a few minutes before she did exactly that.

"Rin, may I speak with you?"

"Gah!" Rin shouted, almost dropping the two bowls of rice she was carrying. "What do you think you're doing, Haku? Waiting at the top of staircases just to scare people? I almost dropped our food!"

He bowed his head slightly, "My apologies. Do you have a moment? Is Sen with you?"

She shook her head, "That girl is not good with getting up early. I'll bet she's still sleeping, muttering about some river when I get back. I'm gonna have to get up extra early for a while just to make sure we both actually get down here on time!"

Haku took her elbow lightly, leading her to an empty guest room. When he slid the door shut behind him, she looked at him skeptically. "What exactly is this, Haku? What do you want?"

When he turned around, he could feel the desperate look on his face, "I need your help, Rin."

Her face softened, "Is it Sen?"

He nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I never expected her to come back here. The spell I used on her wasn't meant to work here and now…"

Rin set the bowls onto a table and crossed her arms, "Spell? What spell? What are you talking about?"

Haku hesitated, "Before she left 13 years ago… I put a memory spell on her purple hair-band. Zeniba, No-Face, Boh, and Yu-Bird made it for her so I knew she would never get rid of it. I was trying to protect her; I knew if she retained all her memories, she would undoubtedly come looking for this place again and one day she would find it. I know that doesn't sound like a problem, but I'm sure you remember how furious Yubaba was for the first few months after Sen left. I thought that if she had come back to that, Yubaba would have done something terrible to her, like enslave her here forever."

"But Sen_ wants_ to stay here. She signed another contract with Yubaba yesterday."

He nodded, "I know. But at the time, she was too young to know what she wanted and I didn't want her making a choice that she might live to regret. Certainly not because of me. What I didn't take into account was the possibility that she might one day come back here. The memory spell was only meant to work in the human world… once she stepped into the Bath House she got almost all of her memories back."

Rin frowned, "Almost?"

Haku hesitated again, unsure if he should tell Rin the worst of it.

"Just tell me, Haku. If you want me to help you, my only condition is that I know everything. No secrets."

Sighing, he continued, "As you know, I can use magic. It's not nearly as strong as Yubaba's or Zeniba's, but it's strong enough. I didn't need to use very much magic for the memory spell but still… her mind was fighting me. When I went through her mind, just to scan quickly to ensure it was all buried, I found that the spell didn't work on any memory pertaining to me. She refused to let me go."

Rin sniffed, "I think I'm going to cry."

"You might want to wait. It gets worse. At first, I was at a loss. I had never met someone who could resist magic so well. But then I thought back to everything I had learned from Yubaba and the secrets I had stolen from Zeniba and I found the answer. See, I was burying her memories without ever touching her; I didn't want her to know I was doing anything because she would have fought it harder. So when I led her back to the Spirit Gate, I held her hand," at the confused look on Rin's face, Haku sighed. "Let me explain. When it comes to modifying someone's memory with magic, you can do it without ever touching them as long as you can see them. But there are certain types of memories that that method doesn't work on. Memories pertaining to love are one of them."

Rin wiped her eyes.

"With magic, you can't ever completely erase a memory of love. It's impossible. However, you can bury it so far down that no one except you would ever know how to find it. And that is exactly what I did when I held her hand that day."

She shook her head in confusion, "I don't understand, Haku. You've been miserable since the day she left. I understand wanting to protect her, but don't you think it's unfair to make her forget about her feelings for you? Shouldn't that be her choice?"

Haku sighed once again, "It should. But if Yubaba were to find out that Sen feels any type of affection towards me, can you imagine the things she could make Sen do using me as leverage? She could make Sen her slave. I can't have that."

They both stood in silence for a moment before Rin spoke, "So what do you need me to do?"

"I need you and Kamaji to not tell Sen anything about our relationship from the last time she was here. As of right now, she knows I'm familiar but as far as she's concerned, she's never met me. It would be best to keep it that way."

Rin nodded, "Okay, I will tell him. But Haku… aren't you worried that she will just develop feelings for you all over again? Especially now that she's not a little kid anymore? I mean, you can't just avoid her forever. The Bath House is big, but it's not that big."

He frowned, torn between what he wanted and he thought was right, "I've worried about that. I don't want to avoid her at all, not after all these years but…"

"Look Haku," she said, grabbing the two bowls of food from the table, "I'm not particularly thrilled about this situation. I understand why you did it and why you want to keep her in the dark, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I think you're overestimating Yubaba and underestimating Sen. She isn't the ditzy little 10 year-old anymore and I'd be willing to bet she could see through anything Yubaba tried to pull. I worry more about what it will do to her if you don't dredge up the memories she has of you. She plans on staying here, permanently Haku. Imagine being in her position; would it really be better to let her end up with someone she doesn't really want all in the name of protecting her from something that may or may not even happen? That isn't fair for her and it isn't fair for you."

He knew Rin was right. And just the thought of Chihiro, _his_ Chihiro ending up with another man made his inner dragon furious. Haku knew Chihiro still felt something for him, he had known it for a very long time. After all, it wasn't as if he was being completely selfless anyway; because Haku tampered with Chihiro's mind by going inside her memories, there was always a connection between them. For years he had been visiting Chihiro's mind in her sleep in the form of his river just to be close to her in any way that he could. And all of those years he spent with her in her dreams only made him love her more. Even now when she was back in the Spirit world and back in the Bath House, he still couldn't stop himself from visiting her dreams. Quite frankly, he was glad he hadn't stopped.

Just last night, she admitted that she thought he, the spirit form of Haku, was beautiful. And that was certainly a start.

Rin slid the door open, looking back at Haku one more time, "I'll do what you asked me to, and I'll tell Kamaji. But please, don't do this to her or yourself. I really don't think it will be worth it." Just as she stepped through the door, she stopped again. "One more thing, Haku. You said that only you can unbury her memories of you… how exactly would you do that?"

Haku blushed furiously as he cleared his throat, "I would have to kiss her."

Rin snorted, closing the door behind her with her foot, "Psh, figures."

...

After Sen finished her breakfast, she and Rin went down to start their day cleaning the tubs. Luckily, unlike her first day 13 years ago, they weren't assigned the big tub this time. There were no words for how relieved she was that she didn't have to scrub that enormous tub on her first day again.

Sen yawned, stretching her arms, "Getting up this early is going to take some getting used to. At least we finally found a uniform that fits me."

Rin laughed, "Well you're not short and scrawny anymore; that helps."

"Sen!" The foreman called from his desk when he caught sight of her. "Can you come here for a second? I have a message from Yubaba."

Sen look at Rin for moment before shrugging, "I'll be back, I guess." She jogged down the stairs and over the foreman before bowing. "Good Morning, Mr. Foreman. What is it?"

He looked down at a small piece of paper where he jotted down some sloppy scrawl, "Looks like Yubaba wants you on attendant detail today instead of tubs."

"Attendant detail?" She repeated, unable to make sense of what he was saying. She was always on cleaning duty with Rin, why change now? "That's strange. But okay… who am I attending?"

"Hmm…" He looked at the paper again. "Ah, it looks like you will be the personal attendant of Master Haku today. He must be busy with something, so it looks like you will be bringing him all of his meals, doing his laundry, and cleaning his personal quarters. His quarters are on the floor right before the top floor; he's the last door on the left."

Sen felt her entire body grow hot as the blush that started in her cheeks spread to her toes, "Why does Yubaba want me doing that today?"

He shrugged, "No idea. But if you don't want to get in trouble on your first day back, you better get moving. Master Haku always has his breakfast by exactly 8:00."

Just as she started to walk towards the kitchens, she turned back to the foreman, remembering something vague from a long time ago, "Uhm… what if he isn't there when I bring his breakfast? I seem to remember he goes out a lot."

The foreman smiled, "Don't be nervous, Sen. Master Haku isn't as rigid as Yubaba. If he isn't there, just leave it for him on one of his tables and start working on your other duties."

Without saying another word, Sen made her way to the kitchens. She walked in, unoffended when several spirits pinched their noses at her human stench, and grabbed the silver tray that had 'Master Haku' chiseled elegantly into it. She could feel her pulse start to race as she took the tray to the elevator. The river in her dreams didn't seem upset with her for being interested in this man; on the contrary, the river seemed almost happy about it. Either way, something about this situation felt… peculiar. Like there was something she was missing.

The wooden elevator's red-paneled doors slid open and she stepped inside. Sen pushed the lever and after the elevator doors slid closed again, it began to ascend. As she came closer and closer to the 'Heaven' floor, the floor Yubaba was on, she felt her hands began to shake. Master Haku's room was on the floor directly below Yubaba's… 3 floors away… 2 floors… 1 floor…

The elevator stopped and the doors slid open. Sen forced a few deep breaths into her lungs before she gathered the courage to step out. Nervous as she was, it was hard not to be impressed by the elegance of this floor; next to Yubaba's floor, she had never seen any other floor as beautiful as this. The walls were paneled with a rich, dark red-brown wood and the floor was carpeted with plush golden fabrics; there weren't many rooms on this floor, but the few rooms it did have were concealed by elegant, tan shoji sliding screens. The foor was lit by numerous lanterns that hung from the ceiling and cast a warm, golden glow over the entire space. This place even _smelled_ good, although it was clear to her that women did not live on this floor. The entire floor smelled rich and earthy with the occasional smokiness from someone, somewhere smoking a pipe of some sort; there were no floral scents anywhere. The masculine scent of the level seemed to wrap around her like a delicate ribbon and embed itself in her hair. She was certain she would smell like this place for days, no matter how much she bathed.

Sen finally made her way down the hallway immediately to her left. Just like the foreman said, the last room on the left was undoubtedly his. A silver plaque that read 'Master Haku' in elegant kanji was hung next to the shoji doors. She took one more deep breath and knocked.

No reply.

After for waiting for what seemed like a polite amount of time, she knocked again.

Still no reply.

Unsure of what else to do, Sen let herself in.


	7. Chapter 7

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys! I hope you're enjoying so far! I've got some biiig things planned. :) Just a little explanation (even though I'm sure you figured it out by now), Sen cannot actually remember Haku right now, but her heart recognizes him, as silly as that sounds. That's why she keeps feeling that loneliness. Her heart is reaching for something her mind doesn't recognize yet. HOWEVER, a small part of her knows him. That's where this scene comes in to play. Usually you wouldn't be comfortable with someone you just met, but her heart realizes it has known him for a very long time. Hopefully you guys will find this all as emotional I did while writing it; I definitely had some moisture in my eyes!**

**...**

Just as she thought, the room was empty.

Sen slid the door closed quietly behind her and set the silver tray on a small chestnut table that sat next to the door. Since Master Haku wasn't here, she felt safe taking some time to looking around; after all, if she was going to be cleaning this place more than once, and knowing Yubaba she probably would be, then it was important for her to know all of the things he had in his room, right? She didn't have to look around much though, because even though the room was large, it was very simply decorated. The walls were paneled with the same dark, red-brown wood as the hallway, the flooring was tan tatami, and the same cloth lanterns hung from the ceiling and casted a warm glow over the entire room. Directly across from the door was what she assumed was the balcony, partitioned by two sets of the standard Bath House sliding shoji. In the space between the two shoji was his white shikibuton, the gold kakebuton and makuras strewn chaotically on top of it. Right above the shikibuton hung a small scroll, a large white dragon with turquoise hair painted on it. To the far left, there sat a large fireplace flanked by two floor-to-ceiling bookcases in dark chestnut, matching the two small chestnut tables that flanked the door. In front of the fireplace sat a low table with four cushions that was almost entirely covered by papers and books. To the right was a half-open shoji that revealed a small bathroom and a fusuma near that balcony that could only be a closet. Between these two doors were three large potted plants.

Being in this room felt so intimate, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

Sen could feel her face grow hot as she walked over to his shikibuton. She looked up at the painting on the wall, her fingers aching to touch it. She reached out her hand, something about that dragon was awfully familiar…

_"I've missed you, Chihiro."_

She froze, her arm halfway outstretched towards the painting. The river's affectionate words resounded in her head, that beautiful voice seeping through her body like Haku's had when she first met him. That horrible aching loneliness that she didn't understand ripped through her heart again, causing her legs to give out beneath her. Sen landed on the shikibuton with her head in her hands. Why was she so sad? She finally had her memories back and she was finally back to the only place that ever felt like home. She should be happier now than ever before.

So why did she feel like something huge was missing?

"Sen?" A gentle voice came from the balcony's shoji doors behind her. "What are you doing here?" There was the soft sound of bare feet sliding across the tatami before he knelt in front of her. "Sen?"

When she looked up at him, he could see she was crying. There was no stopping the tears that were stemming from that unbearable sadness she felt inside. It was finally too much.

Haku was immediately alarmed. He grabbed her left wrist and put his other hand on her cheek, "Why are you crying? Are you hurt?"

_Are you hurt?_ It was such a simple question and yet she had no way to answer. She _was_ hurt, but had absolutely no idea why. Sen found herself leaning her head into his hand, closing her eyes. She should be uncomfortable being this close to a man she only met yesterday but she felt like she knew him. She felt _so_ many things for this man that she didn't understand.

At first, Haku's seemed shocked at her sudden closeness but after only a few seconds, he softened. He put his forehead against hers, "Sen… talk to me."

And for reasons she could never explain, she knew she could. She knew he would never get angry with her. "I just have to tell someone," Sen said, her voice soft. "I can't keep feeling like this."

Haku waited, simply stroking her cheek.

She sat up and moved back just enough to grab his hands and hold them in her own as she looked at him, "Why do I feel like I know you? When I see you…" Laughing lightly to herself, Sen stopped and looked down at their hands. "Let me start from the beginning. I was here before, when I was 10. My parents were turned into pigs for eating food meant for the spirits and I knew I had to save them. So I did. And after I left, all of my memories of my time here were gone but my life was never the same. I grew up empty. I never felt like I belonged in my own world anymore. Do you know have any idea that's like?" Her chocolate brown eyes bored into his desperately. "Do you know what it's like to feel like you're just drifting through life, missing something you can't name?"

His eyes were sad, "No Sen, I don't. Tell me what it was like."

Sen gripped his hands tighter, looking down at them again, "It was horrible. I didn't make friends anymore; the friendships just felt forced. I didn't really talk to anyone. I just kept to myself. But I developed a love for art and I started drawing things constantly, things I didn't understand. Now, I know I was drawing No-Face and Kamaji and Rin and Yubaba. But I also drew a boy. I drew him more than any of the others, but I still don't know who he is."

"Is that what makes you sad?" Haku asked, searching her face.

She shook her head, "No. At least, not at first. When I was 12 I started having dreams about being in a river." Sen blushed. "This is going to sound ridiculous but… at first we were just friends, and I valued the sense of companionship I got from those dreams. The river seemed to understand me and value my company too. But as I got older, I developed _feelings_ for it. I would hope and hope during the day that the river would come to me when I went to sleep. And more often than not, it did. I remember being so upset when I would wake up, wishing I could stay asleep just to keep the river with me. But every day following one of those dreams, I would draw that boy. _That_ made me sad. It felt like I was losing it, like I was just creating that boy to give the river in my dreams a physical form. I felt so pathetic."

His face looked as though it was on the edge of crumpling in pain. This time, Sen put her hand on his face, "Should I stop?"

Haku shook his head, "No, please. I want to know it all. I want to know what's hurting you."

"I don't know what it is. I should be happy now that I'm back where I belong but…" Sen could feel the tears budding in her eyes again. "When I see you, I feel like something's missing inside me. I don't know you, but I feel like I do. When I hear your voice, it feels like there are tiny fissures in my heart threatening to shatter me. There's something about you on the edges of my mind but I can't figure out what it is. I've never even met you, Master Haku, but when I see you I want to run and throw myself into your arms. Even when I dream of my river now, I only think of you and I don't know why."

He cupped her face with both hands, "Sen, I'm so sorry. Please." He begged, tears brimming in his own eyes. "Please forgive me. Please."

Sen didn't know why he was apologizing, but it only made her pain worse so she pulled away from him. She gripped the area above her heart fiercely, uncontrollable sobs ripping from her chest, "Who are you that you can make me hurt like this? Why do I want you so badly?"

Haku broke. He couldn't stand seeing Sen like this, not when he was the one who hurt her so much with nothing but good intentions. He pulled her off the bed and wrapped his arms around her tightly, burying his face in her shoulder. There was nothing more he wanted to do than apologize to her and spend the rest of his very long life making it up to her. But once again, Haku was being pulled in two directions; now that he knew how much Chihiro was hurting and that her heart clearly still recognized him, he wanted to kiss her to bring her memories back so she would finally understand. On the other hand, a very large part of him knew how cruel Yubaba was and knew that she would take advantage of Chihiro's feelings for him. Either way, Chihiro would get hurt somehow.

He couldn't win either way.

"Master Haku," Sen buried her face into his shoulder and gripped the front of his kimono with both hands, "tell me who you are, why I feel like I know you. Tell me why you make me feel like this."

Yubaba be damned. He couldn't hurt her anymore.

Haku turned his face to her neck and whispered, "Chihiro…"

When he said her true name, her skin prickled with goosebumps, "M-master Haku…?"

He cupped her face again and put his forehead against hers, "There are so many things I want to say. So many things I don't have words for."

Her pulse quickened against his fingers.

"I don't want you to hurt anymore," Haku wiped her tears with his thumbs. "I can't stand it, Chihiro."

Her eyes fluttered closed as he moved closer to her, "Only my river… is allowed to… call me that."

He smiled, his lips barely brushing the corner of her mouth now, "I know."

...

Sen was sitting on the balcony with her legs dangling off the edge when Rin returned with dinner.

"There you are, Sen!" Rin shouted. "I was looking for you all day! Where have you been you dope? You really had me worried!" When she sat next to Sen on the balcony and noticed the look on her face, she just set the two bowls down. "Whoa Sen, what's up?"

Sen turned to her friend, a blush in her cheeks, "Master Haku almost kissed me today."

Rin's eyes were like saucers.

"Yubaba assigned me as his attendant today, that's why I wasn't cleaning with you. When I brought him his food, he wasn't there so I decided to look around since I was going to have to clean anyway. Then he showed up on the balcony."

Her friend scooted closer to her, now shoving generous helpings of rice and fish into her mouth as she listened.

Sen looked back out over the seemingly endless sea that extended from the Bath House, "I told him about the memory spell and everything I went through since I lost them. I didn't mean to get so emotional, but I couldn't help it. And then when I started to cry, Mas—I mean, Haku put his arms around me and just kept apologizing. He never did tell me what for. There are a lot of things he said that I didn't understand."

Rin managed to swallow her mouthful of food, "So what happened?!"

She blushed deeper, "He was just about to kiss me when someone came knocking at his door. There was a problem with the water for the baths and they needed him to fix it. So, he apologized and left."

"Aghhh!" The weasel spirit groaned in frustration. "So what did you do?"

Sen let out a deep sigh, "What else? I did his laundry and cleaned his quarters like I was supposed to. By the time I was done with all of that, Haku wasn't back yet and it was almost time for our dinner. So here I am."

Rin huffed, "Ugh, what rotten timing! But don't worry about it Sen, I'm sure Haku will find you again." She winked.

"I certainly hope he does," Sen chuckled.

For a long time the two women ate in silence on the dusk-bathed balcony.

"I really missed you, Sen," Rin said quietly, setting down her empty bowl. "I can't tell you how glad I am that you're back."

Sen put her food down and hugged Rin tightly, "I know exactly how you feel. I missed you, too."

Just then a woman appeared at the door of their quarters, "Rin? Sen? You've got customers."

They both sighed.

"Should we go?" Rin grabbed both of their empty bowls and started to get up.

"I guess so. Do you think Haku will be around tonight? The Bath House is awfully busy."

Her friend laughed, "Don't even start, Sen. He'll kiss you soon enough."

...

...

**FUN FACT: I listen to the exact same song on repeat every time I write something pertaining to Haku and Chihiro. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Once again, the first little dream/flashback (whatever you want to call it) encompasses a scene directly from the American version of Spirited Away. Also, I hope you guys don't mind all the jumping around in this chapter. I felt like it was important to get everything that was going on simultaneously instead of just dragging out one event for no particular reason. Enjoy! :)**

**...**

_She looked around, confused. Why was she on the bridge to the Bath House? Shouldn't she be in the river?_

_ A 10 year-old girl stood on the opposite side of the bridge, peering over the railing at the train rumbling below. It was then that a young boy with blue-green hair came towards her looking shocked._

_ "You shouldn't be here. Get out of here, now!" He shouted._

_ The little girl just looked at him quizzically, "What?"_

_ "It's almost night; leave, before it gets dark!"_

_ The lamps at the front of the Bath House lit up._

_ He gasped, "They're lighting the lamps!" The boy pushed her towards the stone stairs. "Get out of here! You've gotta get across the river, go! I'll distract them."_

_ As the girl ran, the young boy faced the Bath House, held out his hand, and blew on it gently. Light pink flower petals materialized from his fingers in a delicate swirl._

_ The little girl reached the stone steps before looking back, "What's up with him?" She mumbled to herself, rubbing her eyes. She then disappeared down the stairs._

_ After the girl disappeared, the boy remained on the bridge with his arms and palms outstretched, chanting something to himself._

_ "A spell?" Sen observed quietly. "It must have been to protect her." She walked over to him and knelt down, wanting to get a clearer look at his face. When he turned to make sure the girl had gone, Sen gasped at the sight of his face. _

_ Haku. A very, very young Haku._

_ So did that mean, the girl was…?_

_..._

The next week was uneventful. Just as Sen had guessed, Yubaba kept her on attendant duty during the day for Haku. Every morning, Sen would bring Haku his breakfast and every morning, he wasn't there. For a while each day, she would sit on the balcony and wait for him to return, but he never did; at least not while she was there. Not wanting to get in trouble for failing to do her job, Sen would then proceed to clean Haku's quarters and wash his laundry like she was supposed to. She knew that Haku came back to his room at some point during the day or night because every morning, there was a white kimono and blue pants somewhere on the floor of his bathroom. So why didn't she ever see him?

"I just don't get it," Sen sighed tugging the string that filled the tub with herbal water. "He almost kisses me and then I don't see or hear from him for a week. Did I do something?"

Rin swept the floor around the tub, "It's not that unusual for Haku to disappear for days at a time. Even though he's not Yubaba's apprentice anymore, his contract still requires him to run errands for her. I'm sure he's just busy with something."

She hopped down from the lip of the tub, "But he comes back to his room every day. There are always new clothes to be washed when I get there in the morning. He couldn't take twenty minutes to come see me?"

The weasel spirit set down her broom and started neatly folding a stack of towels, "You're more eager to see him than usual, you haven't been this anxious all week. Is something up?"

"Well, actually…" Sen started packing up their cleaning supplies. "I know this may sound crazy but I think I've met Haku before."

Rin dropped the stack of perfectly folded towels in surprise, "You do?"

She nodded, "Yeah, back when I was here the first time. I still don't remember him exactly, but I had a dream last night that made me wonder. I was standing on the bridge to the Bath House when I saw a little girl, maybe 10 years-old, who was leaning over the railing and looking at the train below. That's when a boy, maybe 12, with blue-green hair came up to her. He was really panicked about something and he just kept telling her that she needed to leave before it was too late, before it got dark. When she ran away like told her, he cast some sort of spell on the bridge… I can only assume to protect her. When the girl was gone, I walked over to the boy to see what he looked like and…"

"And what?" Her friend's eyes were wide.

"It was Haku, I know it. Only he was incredibly young and his hair was short. That's why I want to talk to him. I need to know if the girl in my dream was me; I need to know if that dream was actually a memory."

Rin began to refold the towels she dropped when she paused, "You said Haku almost kissed you. What exactly did you mean by 'almost'?"

Sen blushed, "His mouth was on the corner of mine when he got called away."

"Did his lips actually touch yours?"

Her face went an even darker shade of red, "Just barely. Why does it matter?"

Rin looked down and folded the towels sloppily this time, "No reason. I was just curious."

...

Aogaeru sat silently in front of Yubaba's ornate desk as she scribbled something on a piece of parchment.

"I'm not doing anything else until I get my reward," the frog spirit huffed angrily. "You said I would get my gold after I brought Sen back. She's been here for an entire week and I still haven't seen a single gold nugget! It's not my fault her memories came back!"

Yubaba took a long drag on her cigarette, cackling hoarsely as she exhaled the smoke, "Considering that I own you, I technically don't have to reward you at all if I don't want to. And I don't care that her memories came back; her most important ones are still buried and that's all that matters to me."

Aogaeru eyed her suspiciously, "What do you mean?"

She cackled again, "She still doesn't remember Haku."

"So why does that matter?"

Yubaba threw a small teacup that hit the frog directly in the head, "You idiot. I can use this to my advantage. As long as she doesn't remember him, I have a little something that will work perfectly on her." Her sharp red lacquered nails drummed on a small jeweled box rhythmically. "If you do this one last thing for me Aogaeru, not only will I give you the reward I initially promised, I will also give you your name back. After that, you can leave and never come back if you want."

The frog thought for a moment, "Fine. Just tell me what you need me to do."

...

Sen couldn't sleep. The dream she had the night before was playing over and over in her mind. That, and Rin was snoring obnoxiously in her ear.

"Ugh," she groaned, sitting up. Every other woman in their room was fast asleep, so if she was going to leave she needed to be extra quiet. Sen stealthily slipped on her knee-length pink work pants that she'd worn yesterday and retied her blue apron around her neck and waist, leaving her pink overshirt on the floor. She grabbed her wooden sandals and tip-toed between the shikibutons of her sleeping roommates until she was able to slip out the door. Remembering like it was yesterday, Sen made her way down the seemingly never-ending staircases until she made it to Kamaji's boiler room. A wave of guilt crashed over her when she realized that she hadn't come to visit him yet. Unable to worry about that now, Sen forced herself forward, sliding the door to the boiler room open as quietly as she could before crawling through it.

Luckily, he and all his soot sprites were sound asleep.

Sen crept silently through the boiler room until she reached the series of doors that led out of the Bath House and to a large, uneven staircase that was tacked haphazardly to the side of the building. When she finally made it outside to the staircase, she gulped.

It wasn't any less terrifying than it had been when she was 10.

"I'm a grown woman now, damn it," she scolded herself. "I shouldn't be afraid of a set of stairs." Sen looked toward the top. "Even if they are dangerous…and probably going to collapse with me on them."

After a few deep breaths of the crisp night air, Sen began slowly crawling up the stairs on her hands and knees.

"Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down," she chanted to herself.

When she finally reached the garden at the top of the stairs, Sen slipped on her wooden sandals and snuck through the side gate. At last, she had made it out of the Bath House.

The moonlight turned the bridge from red to white and bathed the water below it with an incandescent glow. Sen rested her arms on the railing and looked out over the water. In the distance there was a cluster of black shadows which she knew was Swamp Bottom. Idly, she found herself wondering how Granny was. Had No-Face stayed with her? Had she continued to teach him how to use her spinning wheel? Did they miss her? She would have to visit them on her next day off if she could find some train tickets.

There was a sudden gust of wind. Sen looked up at the sky, hoping to see… what? Flashes of a creature, long and white with horns and blue-green hair were dancing on the edges of her memory. A dragon, maybe? Haku had a painting of a dragon like that above his bed. That must be where she remembered it from.

"Hm?" Sen noticed a small building a short distance from the bridge that seemed to be surrounded almost entirely by a wall of flowers. It was the pig pen where her parents had been held.

"I wonder if it's still being used," she thought out loud to herself. Unable to stop her curiosity, Sen slipped off her sandals and jogged toward the wall of flowers. She wandered the edge for a few minutes trying the entrance into the flower 'maze' because for some reason, she couldn't remember where it was.

"You look lost."

Sen's heart fluttered at the sound of the velvety voice that inhabited every corner of her mind. Her body immediately reacted to his presence; she felt her skin become flushed and muscles tense when he walked towards her. There was so much electricity in the air between them, she would've sworn her body was buzzing.

Sen turned, knocked breathless once again by his sheer beauty. Under the moonlight, his long turquoise hair gleamed, looking like waves when the wind rustled it. Idly, she wondered if she would ever get used to the sight of him.

She certainly hoped not.

"M-master Haku!" Sen bowed deeply, blushing. "I couldn't sleep so I thought I would take a walk."

Haku lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him as he smiled, "Calling me 'Haku' would do just fine. I think we're past the formalities now."

Her breath caught in her throat as she remember his lips so close to hers.

He let his hand drop, eyeing the wall of flowers behind her, "Going to the pig pen?"

She managed a nod.

"Well you'll never get there at this rate. Let me take you."

"Okay," Sen's voice squeaked.

Haku casually took her hand and led her further down to the entrance; even when they started going through the maze, he didn't let go.

She looked down at their hands and was amazed at how right it felt. Every time he was near her, it was like something inside of her was recognizing a piece of itself. Like he was integral to who she was.

Like her other half.

"You seem nervous, Chihiro. Is everything alright?" Haku asked as they walked through the flowers.

Sen _was_ nervous. She had poured her heart out to him last time and he almost kissed her; what was there not to be nervous about? The entire week, she wanted to see Haku again to see if he would try to kiss her again or if the first time was just in an effort to comfort her. Then she had a dream of him that she couldn't explain. She was so unexplainably happy that he was here with her but she had a litany of questions on her mind as well. When she didn't answer him, he stopped and turned to her.

"Chihiro?"

She sighed. Just the way he said her name seemed to turn her bones to jelly.

Haku put his hands on her face, "Are you angry with me? Because I haven't seen you all week?"

"No!" Sen cried, blushing for the millionth time. "I'm so glad you're here. I… I missed you. That's all."

He smiled, "And I've missed you."

Something about the way he said that phrase was so familiar to her but she couldn't put her finger on it. Sen bit her lip, "Where were you? Why didn't you come and see me?"

Grabbing her hand again, they continued to walk, "Every once in a while, Yubaba will send me to see Zeniba in order to keep tabs on No-Face for a few days. She's terrified he will come back and ruin the Bath House again even though we all know he won't."

She chewed on that for moment, "You couldn't spare ten minutes to see me?"

He stopped again, "Chihiro?"

"I… I thought you were avoiding me. I thought maybe you didn't want to see me after you…"

Haku cupped her face again, as he liked to do, and brushed away the frustrated tears that were beginning to form in her eyes, "You think I _didn't want to see you_? You were afraid that my almost kissing you was some type of _mistake_?"

Sen only nodded.

"Chihiro…" His voice washed over her, making her knees shake. "Seeing you for 10 minutes would have been worse than not seeing you at all. Do you think 10 minutes with you would have been enough time for me? It would have only made me miss you more while I was away. I know that is selfish of me, protecting my own fragile emotions, but you have to understand: you are the only thing ever on my mind. I want to be by your side, always."

Everything he felt about her, she felt about him multiplied exponentially. He was the only thing she wanted. Ever.

And she still didn't know why.

But there was still that insecure, nagging voice in the back of her mind, "Are you sure you don't regret… almost kissing me? You didn't do it just to make me feel better?"

Haku pushed her against the flower wall, once again resting his forehead against hers as he wound his arms around her waist, "Chihiro… how can I possibly make you understand? How can I explain what you are to me? You are… _everything_. You have been for a long time. There is no me without you. Not anymore."

It felt completely natural as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "I don't feel like I've just met you, Haku. I feel like I've been waiting for you for years."

He tilted his head, brushing her nose with his affectionately.

"Tell me why I feel like I'm in love with you."

"I would rather show you," Haku whispered.

And he kissed her, crushing her lips with his.

...

...

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Gahhhh! There it is! But don't get complacent guys; the story is FAR from over. :D Don't even think that because Haku kissed her, things are all peachy-keen. I promise, they're not. Btw, because you guys wanted to know, the song I listen to on repeat when I write anything pertaining to Haku and Chihiro is called "One Day" by Trading Yesterday. Take a quick gander at the lyrics and you will understand why. That, and the music in this song sets the perfect tone for those scenes. :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Something was very, very wrong.

Haku sat on the balcony outside of his room, waiting for the sun to rise. Even if he tried to sleep now, he knew it would never come. Not when all he could think about was Sen. Frustrated and angry, he could feel his dragon awakening inside him and wanting to get out. What went wrong? Had he made a mistake? Had he used too much magic? Or had he simply forgotten what he actually did? There had to be _some _explanation for it, some reason why it didn't work.

Why didn't she remember him?

He had kissed her in the flower maze with the intention of finally bringing her last memories back, but nothing happened. As they were leaving the empty pig pen, Haku had kissed her again, not only because he wanted to but with the hope that this time, it would work. Still, there was nothing. Then, Sen had kissed him on the bridge before they parted ways and still, nothing returned to her. The spell he had used was supposed to only require one kiss in order to make her memories return, but they had shared three and she still didn't remember anything. And something about that worried him very much.

Out of the corner of his eye, Haku saw an ugly looking bird with the body of a crow and the head of an old woman flying from the flower maze up to the very top floor of the Bath House. Of course, Yu-bird must have been keeping tabs on them; probably to make sure neither of them was running away again.

Yu-bird caught sight of him watching her and she immediately sped up, trying to get to the top floor as fast as possible. This made Haku suspicious, so he stood up and decided to let his dragon take hold. For a few brief seconds, the edges of his body began to shiver and blur, the pigment melting off his skin leaving behind white, shimmering scales. He then felt his torso and face twist and elongate; not painfully, but smoothly and snakelike as his body became 40 feet long. His hands and feet morphed into beige-colored claws as a long turquoise mane burst forth along the length of him and at the tip of his tail. Two angled horns emerged from his forehead along with a set of long, flowing whiskers from his cheeks. Haku then leapt of the balcony and flew up towards the top floor of the Bath House.

Careful to avoid all of the doors and windows surrounding Yubaba's office, Haku flew to the roof and landed quietly. He was able to hang onto the roofing tiles with his back claws as he used his front ones to balance the rest of his body against the vertical wall. Moving as slowly and quietly as he could manage, Haku got as close as he could to the open shoji's on the end of her balcony. Since his hearing was much more sensitive in dragon form, Haku could clearly hear the voices in Yubaba's office.

"Welcome back, Yu-bird," Yubaba said gently. "Anything interesting?"

Yu-bird cawed a few times.

The hag laughed hoarsely, "My, my. I don't know what trigger Haku put on Sen's memories of him, but whatever it is, it clearly hasn't worked. It seems everything is going better than expected. Not that I'm surprised, mind you. Haku never did know how to properly handle his power."

Yu-bird cawed again.

"So he kissed her, did he? How cute. It seems our little Haku is getting bolder and bolder all the time. It's only a matter of time before he makes her remember him… and I would very much like to avoid that."

Haku felt a snarl wanting to build in his chest.

He heard Yubaba sit in her desk chair, "Well now that we know exactly what Haku feels for her, I do believe it's time to take the next step."

Yu-bird cawed once.

The witch lit a cigarette, "Oh, yes. I'm going to make Haku regret ever crossing me."

Haku's heart plummeted; he _knew_ Yubaba had been up to something.

...

The next morning, Sen was humming cheerfully as she finished running a towel over her damp hair. Last night had been perfect although admittedly, a complete shock. She never expected Haku to actually kiss her, and certainly not like _that_. She could feel herself blushing just thinking about it. The things he'd said, the way he'd looked at her… it was as if he had loved her for longer than she knew.

And of course, she felt the exact same way.

Maybe it was her imagination, but Haku _had_ seemed disappointed after the first time he kissed her. He watched her like he was expecting her to say something and when she didn't, he seemed like he couldn't understand why. Of course she was probably just being silly and overanalyzing every little detail, but she still couldn't get that thought out of her head. She's just have to ask him about it when she saw him next.

But then she realized she had no idea when that would be.

Even though she now knew that he wasn't avoiding her, Sen still felt annoyed. It wasn't fair of him to say such wonderful things to her and make her feel like her body was on fire, only to be busy with Yubaba's errands for days on end afterwards. Obviously she realized that it was a little silly to be upset about that; even if they were in the human world, they both would presumably have jobs and not be able to spend every waking second together. But it still irritated her nonetheless.

All of a sudden she gasped, a harsh realization hitting her, "The human world!"

It didn't occur to her until now that she had completely abandoned her parents without so much as two words, let alone an explanation. But how was she to know that coming here would make her remember that this place felt like home? And how was she supposed to know that she would wilfully sign another contract with Yubaba that didn't allow her to leave? Her parents would undoubtedly find her car at the apartments where the Kohaku River used to be and assumed she'd been kidnapped or worse. Even if she managed to find some way to communicate with them, how could she ever explain where she was? What excuse could she give for never seeing them again that would be even remotely satisfactory?

Sen had no answers.

She stared at the floor for a long time, milling over different scenarios in her head. There had to be something she could tell them, somehow…

"Sen!" Rin called from the stairs, moments later bursting through the door. "Sen, come on! Grab your overshirt and let's go. Those jerks gave us the big tub again so it's gonna be a long day."

Snapping out of her reverie, Sen looked at the woman at the door confusedly, "I'm on attendant detail, remember? I have to take care of Haku's—"

Rin grabbed Sen's wrist and pulled her into a standing position, shoving her arms into the pink overshirt and tying it around her back for her, "Not today. Haku came and found me this morning when I was getting our food and he said that I need to stay with you all day. He specifically told me to not let you out of my sight, not for a minute."

The uneasiness in Rin's voice made her nervous, "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

Her friend bit her lip, "I don't know. All Haku would tell me is that Yubaba was up to something and that he needed to go and see Zeniba right away. He said she was the only one who could help."

Sen's stomach did uncomfortable little flips as she followed Rin down the stairs to the main floor. Yubaba was up to something… something bad enough to send Haku to beg for help from Zeniba. From the little she actually knew about Haku, Sen could tell that he wasn't the type to ask for help if he thought he could handle something on his own. This meant that whatever Yubaba was doing, it scared Haku.

And that wasn't good.

The girls grabbed the heavy-duty cleaning supplies from their designated shelves, picked up a few herbal soak tokens from the foreman, and made their way to the big tub. As always, the entire area that encompassed the big tub was completely filthy and caked in grime.

Rin groaned, "Great. Just great. This will literally take us all day to clean. And this tub is the most popular, so that means we will have customers tonight too. Ugh."

Sen remained silent.

"I guess we should start…" When Rin turned and saw her face, she immediately dropped her supplies and gave Sen a hug. "Hey, it's alright. I wouldn't let Yubaba do anything to you, Sen. Neither would Haku or Zeniba. We'll all keep you safe."

"No."

Rin pulled away, eyeing Sen with surprise, "What?"

"I appreciate you all protecting me, I do," Sen brushed her off to rummage through the herbal soak tokens they had picked up. "But I'm not 10 anymore. I'm an adult now and I can take care of myself."

"But—"

She gripped an herbal token tightly, tears burning her eyes and thankful that she was facing away from Rin, "Yubaba wouldn't hesitate hurting anyone who got in her way of anything. If she wants to do something to me and you, or Haku, or Zeniba stand in her way, she will do everything in her power to destroy you all. I can't let that happen. Not because of me."

"Sen…"

"I don't know why Yubaba is planning something, I thought she would be happy that I came back. But really, the reason doesn't matter. No matter what she does, I will fight. She may own my name, but I _chose_ to come back here. I _chose_ this as my life and I will fight to protect it. When I was here the first time, I was young and she knew how to manipulate me by using my parents. But I won't let that happen again; I won't let her hurt anyone I love just to manipulate me. That's why I can't let you guys protect me like you want to. I need Yubaba to know that I may be human, but I'm not weak and I will stand up for myself. If I'm going to stay in this world, I have to be strong enough to handle it. And I am."

At first, Rin was speechless. It took a few moments, but she walked over to Sen and knelt down, putting a hand on her shoulder, "You're absolutely right, Sen. But you also gotta remember: we all lost you once and didn't think we'd ever see you again. Now that you're back, we just want to protect you. You love us, but we love you too. So don't get mad if we all step in to help you, okay?"

Sen couldn't help but smile knowing they all cared about her so much, "I'll try not to."

Rin grinned back, "Good. Now instead of worrying about things that may or may not happen, I think we should really focus on trying to get this place clean right now. Otherwise…" She glanced around the filthy room. "Anyone that comes in tonight will probably refuse to pay."

Thankful for something to distract her, Sen grabbed a good token and knocked her fist against the small door in the wall. When it opened, she attached the ribbon to the string that hung down and pulled lightly. The string and token disappeared and she closed the door.

"Hey Rin?"

"Yeah?" She looked up from digging through her cleaning supplies.

Sen could feel her mood lightening as the realization that these people really loved her hit her. She couldn't suppress an affectionate smile, "If the positions were switched… I'd do everything I could to protect all of you, too. Even if you didn't want me to."

Rin smiled widely, turning back to her supplies, "We know."

...

Haku was only outside Zeniba's door for a grand total of 4 seconds before it swung open and a warm voice drifted through it, "Well this is certainly a surprise. Why don't you change back and then come in for some tea?"

The dragon's form shivered and blurred once again as he shifted back into his spirit form. Once the last vestiges of his dragon form had receded, Haku tightened the purple sash around his waist and walked inside.

"Noh-Face, please close the door behind him," Zeniba said gently, taking a large kettle off the fire inside the hearth.

"Ah, ah," the spirit replied, using his black ethereal hands to push the thick wooden door closed.

Haku sat at the table as he always did when he made visits to Swamp Bottom and Zeniba poured him a cup of tea. "So Haku, what can I do for you? My sister isn't the type to send her spy twice in the same month and since Sen is back, I assumed you would be spending all your extra time with her. You must be here for something important."

He held her gaze, unintimidated, "I need your help."

The old woman chuckled, taking the chair opposite Haku, "Oh? How so?"

"So far, I have been unable to bring back Chihiro's remaining memories. The trigger I placed was me kissing her, and that hasn't worked. I tried more than once."

Zeniba raised her eyebrows, "You speak so calmly, Haku. But if this were the only problem you needed my help with, your eyes would not be so desperate. What else is there?"

Haku frowned, furrowing his brow, "Yubaba's planning something else, something that would hurt Chihiro, but I don't know what. Whatever your sister's plans are though, they are heavily reliant on Chihiro not remembering me."

"Are you certain?"

He nodded, "I heard it from her own mouth."

Zeniba took a sip of her tea, "Normally, I wouldn't get involved in the affairs at the Bath House. That was the point of giving me the golden seal."

"Zeniba, please…"

She held up her hand to stop him, "I said normally I wouldn't get involved. However, I consider Sen to be like my daughter and I will not let anyone, not even my own sister, hurt her. I will help you, Haku, but first there is something you need to know. My physical body can't set foot inside the Bath House."

Knowing she would explain, Haku remained silent.

"Yubaba and I are of a very old, extraordinarily magical family. When my sister and I were young, our father expected great things from us as he well should have. But when Yubaba started showing more interest in money and wealth, he became concerned. After all, he expected us to carry on his magical legacy and keep his name highly regarded. How would it look if when he passed on his magic to his daughters, one of them squandered it for money? So instead of dividing his magic equally between us as was customary, when my father was ready to pass on his magic he created two objects: a golden seal and a Bath House. He allowed us to choose which one we wanted, knowing full well what we would pick before we did. Yubaba, unconcerned with the strength of her magic, chose the Bath House because it promised to make her very rich. I chose the seal because I saw the things my father could do with his magic and I wanted the same power. As I'm sure you can assume, my father put the majority of his magic into the golden seal; that's why it almost killed you when you stole it from me: it's much too powerful for you to handle. If Yubaba had gotten her hands on it, it would have killed her for the same reason. Believe it or not, you are actually naturally more powerful than Yubaba, but the small bit of magic my father put in the Bath House causes her to be the stronger one as long as she's in it. I can't enter the Bath House because I'm also not strong enough to handle all the power my father had. If I went in there, the small bit of magic he put in the Bath House would gravitate to my golden seal, leaving me with it all, and it would surely kill me. That's why I have to use my paper birds when I need to get into the Bath House," she paused, taking another sip of tea. "And as long as I have my golden seal, I can use magic through those paper birds because I have more of it than Yubaba. No matter what spell she casts or what type of magic she uses, I can almost always undo it."

Haku frowned again, "Almost?"

Zeniba nodded, "Of course, there are always exceptions. But you shouldn't worry about that too much. I know all of Yubaba's tricks and I highly doubt there is anything she could do that I wouldn't be able to fix."

"So assuming your magic will work, what's the first step?"

The mirror image of Yubaba flicked her wrist and a small paper bird appeared, floating in the palm of her hand, "First, you have to get me into that Bath House."

...

...

...

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope you guys enjoyed the little background on Yubaba and Zeniba. Also, I thought it was important for Sen to finally realize that she isn't that weak little girl anymore who can be easily pushed around. While I think she's a little foolish in assuming that she can handle Yubaba's mysterious scheme on her own, I believe it was imperative for her to have that confidence in herself. Besides, we all know Haku and Sen wouldn't let her go up against Yubaba on her own. :) Now the question becomes: what exactly is Yubaba planning?**


	10. Chapter 10

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys! Sorry this took me so long, I have been busy with my college summer classes. :( But please enjoy!**

**...**

"Have a pleasant evening, sir," Sen bowed deeply.

After the last spirit handed her his money, she let out a huge sigh of relief. Just as Rin had predicted, countless spirits bombarded the big bath all night long, which meant that neither of the women got a single break. Not even for dinner.

Rin wiped a thin sheen of sweat off her forehead, "What a night."

Sen leaned against the wall across from the bath, "You can say that again. I'm starving."

"Me too. Let's finish draining the tub and then we can go get some food."

Just as they got to the lip of the tub, one of their roommates appeared at the door, "Sen, the foreman is asking for you."

Rin looked at Sen nervously, "I'm not supposed to leave you, remember?"

Sen smiled, unconcerned, "Rin, it's okay. Really; it's just the foreman. I'll meet you back in our room later, alright?"

The weasel spirit hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh of resignation, "I guess. Just be quick and careful, 'kay?"

"I will, I promise." With that, Sen dropped the rag she'd been holding and left.

The woman who had come to get her hadn't stayed to escort Sen to the foreman. Instead, Sen found herself completely alone as she made her way to the front of the building since everyone else was busy with cleaning their sections and closing up for the night. She should feel nervous being alone, especially since Haku felt it necessary to employ Rin as her babysitter. But she didn't feel nervous at all. Actually, Sen was finding it hard to feel anything except complete and total gratitude. For so long she had felt like she didn't belong in her world, but now that she was in the spirit world, it felt like fitting two pieces of a puzzle together. No matter how he found her, Sen was thankful that Aoegaeru did. Without him, she might not have ever made it back to her true home. She would have to find a way to thank him someday.

"Sen, is that you?" The foreman called from the end of the walk, which was still some distance away.

Whatever he needed must have been important if he was actively watching for her. Sen sprinted the rest of the way, her bare feet thudding softly against the shiny wooden floor. When she reached the high desk, she had to catch her breath. "Sorry, foreman…" She huffed. "Is everything… okay?"

He shifted uncomfortably, eyeing a small piece of parchment on which he had scribbled something sloppily, "Yubaba wants to see you. Immediately."

Sen's eyes grew wide, "Now? But it's so late… did she say why?"

The foreman shook his head, "No. But if I were you, I wouldn't keep her waiting. It must be important if she's summoning you at this hour."

For the first time, she felt uneasy. Haku wasn't here, he was visiting Zeniba, and Rin had to finish draining the big tub. Earlier today, Sen had been confident that no matter what Yubaba was planning, she could handle it on her own. Now that she had to go see Yubaba on her own, at a time when neither Haku nor Rin would be able to help her, she wasn't so sure.

Knowing it would only be worse for her if she kept Yubaba waiting, Sen ran as fast as she could to the elevators and threw the lever roughly once she was inside. As the elevator ascended, she could feel her pulse quicken and her muscles tighten. What could Yubaba possibly want from her this late? Did she intentionally wait to summon her until Haku and Rin were unavailable? A myriad of increasingly pessimistic questions swirled around her brain as the elevator quietly brought her closer and closer to the 'Heaven' floor that the witch inhabited. When she was only 3 floors away, she managed to convince herself that Yubaba wouldn't do anything to harm her; after all, the witch had once told everyone in the Bath House that they could learn from Sen. When she was only 2 floors away, she started to hyperventilate; Yubaba had never hesitated to punish anyone for anything, justified or not, so surely she wouldn't spare Sen. When she was only 1 floor away, she succeeded in putting a tight lid on her fear; no matter what Yubaba tried to do to her, this place was her home and Sen would fight to stay.

The elevator stopped and the doors slid open inaudibly.

Sen took a few deep, calming breaths before stepping out and making her way down the hall to the large double doors that were adorned with the ugly, obnoxious doorknocker. Even though the doorknocker was clearly sound asleep and snoring, she grabbed it and pounded on the door three times anyway. After all, the doorknocker had never been courteous to her.

"Agh!" The ugly gold head shouted from her palm. "You little brat. Didn't you see I was _sleeping_?"

Accustomed to the rudeness, she simply said, "Yubaba called for me."

There was a long moment of the doorknocker grumbling obscenities under it's breath before swinging the door open, "Don't make any noise on your way out, girl. I'm _tired_."

Remembering the way, since she had been dragged by magic twice now, Sen quickly made her way through the 5 ornate, red-bordered sets of double doors that led directly to Yubaba's office. When she stepped through the last set of doors, she could see the witch writing something at her desk before looking up.

"Ah, there you are Sen. I called for you half an hour ago."

Sen bowed deeply, trying to keep a lid on her fears, "I'm sorry ma'am. Rin and I were cleaning; I came as fast as I could."

"Yes, yes," Yubaba waved her hand casually as she got up from the desk. "But now that you're here, I need you to do something for me."

She was a little surprised, "Oh…okay. What do you need?"

The witch glided across the room, hovering at least 6 inches off the floor, and landed on the carpet in front of her with a soft _thud_. A small envelope floated above her open palm, "I need you to deliver this to Haku."

It was such a simple, menial task that Sen couldn't help but frown, "That's it?"

Yubaba let out one of her hoarse cackles, "Of course. What did you think I called you here for?"

"I…" She hesitated before taking the envelope. "Okay. Uhm, why do you need me to take this to him? Couldn't you just call him to your office and give it to him yourself?"

The witch raised one thin blond eyebrow, "Not that it's any of your business, but after you left last time, Haku quit being my apprentice. He hardly ever comes when I summon him now unless he knows it's important. If I wasted my breath to summon him now, he wouldn't come. Although I believe the contents of that envelope are of the utmost importance, there is not telling if he would feel the same."

Sen turned the small envelope over in her hand, noticing the red, waxy stamp keeping it sealed on the back.

"Before you go sticking your nose where it doesn't belong," Yubaba began as she made her way back to her desk, "just be aware that I will know if anyone but Haku opens it. So I wouldn't temp fate if I were you." She sat back in her plush chair and yawned, flicking her fingers toward her bun. Whatever was keeping the bun atop her head disappeared and the blond, tendril-like hair fell around the witch's face. "Go already."

Just as Sen was turning to leave, something occurred to her, "Ma'am? What if Haku isn't in his room? I don't think anyone has seen him all day." Of course they hadn't, he'd been in Swamp Bottom. But she wasn't sure if Yubaba knew that.

Yubaba rolled her eyes, "Then just leave it in his room somewhere he'll see it. Do I really have to spell everything out for you?"

She was getting ready to explain that she had only asked because Yubaba said the envelope was important, but decided against it. What good would arguing semantics do anyway? Instead, Sen bowed quickly and left the office. She was just grateful that all of her paranoid worrying had been for nothing.

When all 5 sets of doors had closed, Yubaba smiled, running her fingers across the small jeweled box, "So it begins."

...

Sen stood outside the shoji screens, her heart hammering painfully in her chest. Under the dim lamplight, the silver nameplate with 'Master Haku' in elegant kanji gleamed majestically. She knew he wasn't inside, she knew he was most likely still in Swamp Bottom. Even if he was on his way back, it was not a short trip. Despite knowing all of this, her heart still desperately tried to escape from her chest. Not that it didn't always do that when she was around him… or thought of him… or kissed him. Whenever it came to Haku, her heart did all sorts of new and interesting things.

Knowing she needed to hurry so she could get some sleep, Sen slid the screen quietly and slipped inside the dark room. None of the lamps were lit, only moonlight streamed through the open shojis that led to the balcony. Since Rin hadn't let her come up here to straighten up in the morning, his room was still pretty messy. The usual pile of papers were strewn chaotically about the table and his kakebuton was in a heap at the bottom of the shikibuton. She blushed when she noticed a pair of blue pants and a white kimono top on the floor next to his bed. Usually he undressed in the bathroom, but after spending the evening with her at the pigpens, he had undressed right next to his bed… in front of the balcony… bathed in moonlight…

Sen's spreading blush brought her back to reality. She cleared her throat, trying to banish the previous thoughts from her mind. If she ever consciously thought of him in that state, there's no doubt she would never be able to speak to him coherently again. Then she remembered the envelope. Sen was looking around the room for a decent place to leave it when she noticed that someone had brought the tray with Haku's dinner on it and left it on the small chestnut table to the left of the door. Since there wasn't really anywhere else Haku might notice it, Sen placed the envelope on the other chestnut table to the right of the door. She was turning to leave when she let out a long yawn. It had been an awfully long day, there was a shikibuton just across the room, and her bed seemed so very far away…

"It's not like he will be back anytime soon," Sen justified to herself. "And his bed is already a mess. If I get up a little earlier in the morning, I can make it down to our room before Rin wakes up."

When she made it to Haku's bed, her legs seemed to give out on their own. They had worked hard today and she was just so _tired_. Sen slipped the shiny purple hair-band from her ponytail and her thick chocolate hair fanned out across the makuras. She managed to pull the kakebuton up to her chest before sighing contentedly; his bed was ridiculously comfortable. But the best part was that everything smelled like him: the blanket, the pillows, the mattress. No matter how she lay, all she could smell was the rich, crisp, masculine scent of Haku. It made her head spin and her skin flush. Sen knew this was inappropriate, it was much too intimate to be in his bed like this, especially without permission; after all this was where he slept, where his bare skin caressed the gold kakebuton like a lover…

Sen sighed contentedly and quickly descended into sleep.

...

_ The water was warm today; warmer than it had ever been. The pleasant temperature of the river put her more at peace than usual as she floated gently under the sunlight that penetrated the waves. There was something she wanted to ask the river, but now she just couldn't remember what it was…_

_ "I've missed you," the river purred, sending the all-too-familiar invisible hands to rumple her hair._

_ She smiled, eyes closed and face titled towards the surface, "I nev'r shoulda left," but the words sounded all wrong, like her mouth was full of molasses and her tongue couldn't move properly. The way her words tumbled out of her mouth made her giggle._

_ The river stilled instantly, "What's the matter?"_

_ Her smile quickly faded as she took in the question. She felt fine, better than fine actually. There was a pleasant tingling emanating from the ends of her limbs that reminded her of the few times in her life when she'd had too much alcohol and her whole body just felt lighter, more airy. Her thoughts seemed to swim drunkenly around in her head, just out of reach. Sure, she was struggling a bit to focus completely on just one thought, but that didn't really surprise her. She seemed to remember that not long ago, she had felt completely exhausted. This was probably just her body's way of trying to recuperate._

_ "I feel amazin'," she replied, slurring once again. "Like I had too much sake."_

_ The invisible fingers were tracing her features now, as if they were trying to discern something from them, "Have you?"_

_ She thought for a moment, momentarily distracted by how wonderful the river's 'hands' felt on her face, "Don't think so… we were w'rking all night on the big tub."_

_ "Are you positive? You didn't have any drinks with Rin after closing?"_

_ She reached to touch the 'fingers' that were on her face but then sighed with disappointment, "Why can't I ev'r see you? I wanna know what you look like."_

_ There was a long pause, "You have seen me."_

_ "No," she shook her head, hair billowing around her face. "I'd r'member."_

_ The river chuckled, but there was only a small trace of actual humor in its voice, "I promise you, Chihiro. You know what I look like."_

_ She sighed again, "I love when you say my name."_

_ The river didn't respond. Instead, she could feel the invisible hands caress her face or take her pulse or do some other odd, probing thing every few seconds. She felt like a science experiment but she was too… not herself to care._

_ "Y'know something? Haku r'minds me of you. I think maybe that's why I like him. I think I love him and you… isn't that funny? But you're just water. Just water. Not a person. How can I love water? Does that mean I'm crazy? Because I love some water?" Her words, though seemingly inebriated, still came from sober thoughts. Sober thoughts that she had been too afraid to give voice to until now._

_ The river swirled around her, trying to give her some measure of comfort, "Chihiro…"_

_ She closed her eyes and tried to push away the swirling water, "It doesn't matter. I don't care. Guess I'll just be crazy then."_

_ Her eyes remained closed for what seemed like a long time as she tried to understand all of the things she felt. There was a deep, smoldering love in her heart for the river, but also an eerily similar feeling for Haku. She tried desperately to analyze these feelings, to figure out what exactly she was supposed to do about it, but her drunken brain refused to let her focus. Instead, the only thing she was able to focus on was the light, pleasant buzzing going on in her body._

_ "Chihiro," the river whispered, "open your eyes. See me."_

_ Never wanting to deny the river anything, she opened them._

_ And gasped at what she saw._

_ Floating in front of her was Master Haku, in all of his kimono-clad, turquoise-haired glory. She reached out, convinced he was an illusion conjured by her mysterious intoxication, and was shocked when her fingertips met smooth, silky skin. "H… Haku?" She managed._

_ He smiled, catching her hands on his face, "Hello, Chihiro."_

_ All shyness washed away by her current 'condition', she wrapped her arms around his neck exuberantly, "Haku! I can't b'lieve it's you!"_

_ He held her to him, his well-toned arms winding around her waist, "It has always been me."_

_ Her head was swimming, trying urgently to grasp what this meant. The strange drunkenness she felt seemed to confuse her yet clear her mind at the same time, like an old veil of fog was being lifted while a new one attempted to take over._

_ "I thought…" Her tongue still felt heavy. "I thought you f'rgot about me."_

_ "What?"_

_ "I didn't see you for 13 y'rs… I thought you didn't want me 'nymore."_

_ He pulled away quickly so he could look at her; his face was stunned, "What?" He repeated, disbelieving._

_ She touched his cheek gingerly with her fingertips, "I know I w's young. But I loved you. And you pr'mised that we'd see e'chother again." Impossible as it seemed, tears started to form in her eyes. "But I didn't see you for 13 y'rs. Why didn't you come?"_

_ "You…" He struggled to get the words out. "You _remember_?"_

_ "Mmmhm," she looked down sadly. "Why'd you make me forget?"_

_ His exquisite jade eyes were tortured when she finally met his gaze again, "I was trying to protect you. I thought that if you came back, Yubaba would… I thought it was best if… I thought you might forget that…" He stopped, his expression becoming pained as he cupped her face. "I missed you every single moment you were away from me. How could you ever think I wouldn't want you anymore? I just never knew how much you were hurting; if I had, I would have come for you immediately, consequences be damned. I thought I was doing what was best for you. Please, Chihiro. Please forgive me. Forgive my ignorance. As much as it hurt, I thought you would forget me someday and move on. I wanted you to have a normal life, as if you had never come here. I truly had no idea how much damage I was doing."_

_ Though she still felt drunk, it was a little easier to speak now, as if his words had sobered her up a little, "There would never be anyone else, Haku. There's only you."_

_ He crushed her to his chest, burying his face in the crook of her neck. "I'm sorry," he pleaded. "I am so sorry, Chihiro."_

_ She felt herself melt into him, her bones liquefying. Now that she remembered him, remembered their past, she understood why she'd been feeling so many confusing things. Her heart had never really forgotten him; it refused to let him go. She pulled away softly and pressed her fingertips to his chin so he would stop._

_ It was clear that this frightened him. "You cannot forgive me," he surmised, heartbreak slowly invading his stunning features._

_ She looked into his regal jade eyes without faltering, "There's nothing to forgive. Don't you understand? I love you, Haku. I always have."_

_ His eyes softened, "Chihiro, I—"_

_ "Just promise me one thing," she interrupted, bringing herself closer to his lips._

_ "Anything," he murmured, his mouth only centimeters from hers._

_ Her fingers knotted in his untied mass of turquoise hair that billowed around him, "Promise me that no matter what, you'll never make me forget again. I don't care what Yubaba does, I never want to forget you."_

_ He rubbed her nose with his as he wrapped a strong hand around the back of her neck, "I swear. And I _will_ keep you safe from her. No matter the cost."_

_ There was a moment of hesitation now, where her body felt so alive that she could sense everything; the delicate sounds of the river they were suspended in, the warmth of the sunlight piercing the surface and caressing her skin, the deep green of his eyes flecked with gold, the rich, clean taste of the water on her lips, the earthy, crisp scent of his skin…_

_ And then, he kissed her. _

_Her lips parted and she sighed deeply, drinking in the scent of him until it mingled with her bones and became a part of her. His tongue explored her mouth, cautiously at first but gaining confidence as she encouraged him. She groaned, reveling in the strong, almost peppermint-like taste of him on her tongue. When he had kissed her before she remembered, it had been amazing. This was earth-shattering. Every part of her mind and body recognized him and she melded with him effortlessly. If there was any doubt in her mind about the things she remembered, they were gone now. _

_This was Kohaku. _Her_ Kohaku. And he was undoubtedly her 'forever'. _

_When he finally released her, his eyes were bright yet tender at the same time, "I love you, Chihiro. I am so glad you found your way back to me."_

_The mysterious tingling in her limbs receded. _

_..._

When Sen awoke, it was still dark out and the moon, although not in the same position, still shone through the half-opened shojis. She rubbed her eyes, more than a little confused. Why was she in Haku's room… in Haku's bed? Had she accidentally fallen asleep here? She sat up, looking around the messy room in an attempt to remember.

All she could remember was her dream.

She thought for a moment; while it was like all of her others about the river, this one felt different. It felt real. That would mean Haku was the river that had come to her in her sleep for 13 years; it would also mean that the things she was remembering about Haku were real, too. If her dream was real and not just a dream, that would mean that she had loved Haku for a very, very long time.

And that made a lot of sense.

She pushed back the kakebuton, readying herself to get up and return to her own room before she was caught here when, to her horror, she heard the distinctive sound of a shoji screen sliding open to her left.

"Sen?" That unmistakable voice asked, surprised. "What are you doing here so late?"

Sen blushed furiously, hurrying to remove herself from his bed, "I'm so sorry! I must have fallen asleep here by mistake. I had such a long day and I was just so tired…"

Haku walked over to her and to her relief, he was smiling, "It's alright. You just made me worry. I thought something was wrong and you came here to wait for me."

"No," she shook her head. "I think… I think I had to deliver something to you, but I can't remember what it was."

He looked around for a moment, "If I'm not mistaken, that looks like an envelope from Yubaba next to the door. Could that be it?"

Sen though hard for a moment, "I really don't remember. It might be though."

There was a long, awkward silence as he just continued to smile at her. It was odd because even when she had first came back to the spirit world, there had been absolutely no awkwardness between them. This felt strange and it unnerved her.

"Uhm, I should go. Rin is probably wondering where I am…" She began to make her way to the door.

He grabbed her arm, much more roughly than usual, "Please, stay." He said, his voice low and frighteningly unfamiliar. "I missed you today."

Something in Haku's eyes set the alarm bells off in her head. His usually calm jade eyes were now hard, glassy and full of malice. She tried to tug her arm away from him, but his grip was much too strong. He tightened his hold on her, making her wince.

"Haku, you're hurting me," Sen snapped, her temper flaring. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but you need to let me go."

He smiled again, but this time it was a dark, sinister thing, "What's the matter, Sen? I thought you liked me."

It was at that moment that the difference registered in her mind; this was not the Haku she knew. This was something masquerading as Haku.

"Let. Me. Go." She bit out each word harshly. "Now."

The thing that was not Haku let his façade drop now and he gripped both of her arms violently, "I don't think so."

Sen struggled as hard as she could to get free, but it didn't matter. This thing was much stronger than her and it didn't have a problem using force. And it didn't care if it hurt her.

"Now, now Sen, there's no need for all that," the strange voice purred from Haku's mouth. "All I want is to kiss you."

She could feel the bile rising in her throat as the thing that was not Haku leaned in closer. It even smelled wrong; like ashes and brimstone. Sen attempted to turn her head, to press her lips together in a hard line to stop the kiss, but again, none of it mattered. The thing held her in her place with one hand and used the other to grip her jaw so tightly that she didn't dare move again. It then paused before crushing its lips to hers painfully.

Sen tried to shake her head, tried to scream or say _anything_, but the thing wouldn't release its hold on her mouth. With horror, she realized that something was seeping from the thing's lips into her mouth and she couldn't spit it out. It tasted foul, evil as it invaded her. Whatever it was, it was cold, thick, and slimy. Like some kind of gastropod. Her horror increased exponentially when she felt it wriggle down her throat. Once she had unwillingly swallowed it, the thing that was not Haku let her go.

"Now," it commanded, "go back to your room."

Without a single word, Sen did as she was told. Even though she had wanted to run from the thing, this was different. This was something she couldn't control.

...

The dragon-form of Haku landed on the balcony just in time to see three fat, green heads bouncing out of his bedroom door.

That couldn't be good.

...

...

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please leave reviews and let me know what you think! Things are starting to happen!**


	11. Chapter 11

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi everyone! I am sooo sorry it's taken me so long to post something, but I'm in my last 3 semesters of college so I'm busy as heck. I know this chapter is not very long, but it's all I had time for at the moment. Let me know what you think!**

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_..._

_..._

_"You will never escape."_

_ Sen frantically pulled at the thick, opaque chains that bound her to the stone floor. This couldn't be it; this couldn't be the end… not after she had just regained all of her memories. It just couldn't end like this._

_ The voice let out a dark, resounding cackle that seemed to engulf her. It liked to watch her struggle._

_ "Please," she begged, desperately trying to free her arms. "Please, let me go!"_

_ The voice sighed contentedly, "Ah, Sen. I don't think so."_

_ Tired and sore from struggling, Sen stopped resisting and slumped to her knees, "I don't understand. What did I ever do to deserve this?"_

_ "So, so many things, Sen. So many I don't even know where to begin."_

_ "Just tell me why you're doing this to me," her voice was now cracked and weak. She just wanted to be freed._

_ There was a furious wind that whipped viciously around her, causing her limp hair to lash and sting her skin. After a few moments of that, the wind died down and it became silent again. Patiently, Sen waited for an answer._

_ "You're a very strong woman, Sen," the disembodied voice began. "Your willpower is like nothing I have ever come across. Because of this, you are dangerous."_

_ Sen raised her head to stare incredulously into the dark that surrounded her, "Dangerous? You think I'm _dangerous_?!"_

_ The voice continued, ignoring her, "You overcame an incredibly powerful memory spell over the short span of 13 years. Then, you managed to resist an even more powerful spell meant to cloud your judgment and make you forget once again. You keep thwarting this type of magic, and it is something I cannot allow to continue."_

_ Her heart sank, dread washing over her like a thick blanket, "Are you going to kill me?"_

_ "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The voice boomed with laughter. "Kill you? No, no, no! My girl, I have much bigger plans for you than that. You see, I think I have discovered the source of your impressive willpower, and I intend to eliminate it. You are going to help me do that."_

_ "Why would I ever help someone who took me prisoner and wants to make me their slave?"_

_ "My slave? Oh Sen, I don't want you to be my slave. I simply want to ensure that no one will overstep their bounds again. It's time for everyone to learn their place here."_

_ Sen looked down at the maddeningly see-through chains that bound her. They were the only source of light in this place, but the light they emanated didn't give her comfort. It only made her feel sick. "I won't help you. Kill me if you want, but I will never help you. You can go to Hell!"_

_ There was another whirlwind of air that only lasted for a brief moment before everything became still again. In the distance, Sen could hear the _click-clack_ of high heels coming towards her. Even though she knew it was futile to struggle, she did so anyway out of fear. It only took a few seconds for the person wearing the heels to come into view._

_ Yubaba._

_ Sen gasped, her head spinning, "You…"_

_ The witch grabbed Sen roughly by the shoulders to make her stand, "Don't seem so surprised, Sen. Did you really think your first trip here would have no consequences?"_

"_Yubaba, please. I don't understand…"_

_ Yubaba dragged one of her red-lacquered claws down Sen's cheek, "Because of you, Haku quit being my apprentice. I don't think you understand the severity of that action. When I controlled him, he did all my dirty work for me. He spied, stole, and even incriminated innocent spirits if I told him to. It really was the perfect arrangement for me. But then you came and found the one thing that could break my control over him: love. Now, Haku has made me look weak, and initially that was enough for me to want revenge. However, I have discovered an even more disturbing issue. Sen, after you left Haku quit being my apprentice and, while he is still under contract at the Bath House, he still manages to do as he pleases. Do you know why?"_

_ Sen shook her head, not trusting herself enough to speak. Yubaba was clearly furious. She had been prepared to stand up to Yubaba, to fight for her place in the spirit world so she could stay. But that was before the witch had taken her prisoner and chained her to a floor. She had been prepared to stand up to Yubaba in a fair fight, but the witch clearly did not intend for anything to be fair._

_ "You see, Sen… your love for Haku awakened something inside of him. He has always been powerful, his magical abilities very near to mine, but now he is more powerful than me. Because of you. You understand that I cannot have someone under contract in my Bath House that is more powerful than me, don't you? That is quite a risk, and one I am not prepared to take. That is why I was hoping Haku's memory spell would work on you, permanently. If you had stayed away for just a few more years, Haku's power would have weakened back to it's original state and he would not have been a problem anymore. However, you came back. And when you began to fall in love with him all over again, I tried to use yet another memory spell on you to keep your original love for him locked away inside your mind. After all, your new love for him was not as powerful as the first time, so as long as I could keep your first memories of him out of your reach, I would still have a chance at Haku weakening…" Yubaba scoffed. "But your will to love him is so strong that you completely resisted my spell and at the same time, unlocked your memories of him. Now, Haku's power will never weaken and he will remain a threat to me. That is why you are dangerous, Sen. You are dangerous because you give each other strength and my magic doesn't seem to be powerful enough to keep you away from him. Now you see my… predicament. So, that is where you come in."_

_ Sen was shaking, "What are you going to do?"_

_ The witch cackled, her raspy voice cracking like it always did, "Now, now Sen, let's not spoil all the fun. But I will tell you this: you are under my control now. This time however, there is no memory spell involved. Anything I tell you to do, you will do because you will not be able to resist, no matter how hard you try. Your mind may be able to resist most magic, but your physical body now belongs to me. And as long as you are under my control like this, you will never see your river again. Every time you sleep, you will come here and you will be chained to this spot in the dark. And every time you come here, I will sink my hooks just a little bit deeper into you… until one day you will not even remember who you are. All you will know is that I own you, and that my word is law. You will not be Sen ever again."_

_ Anger replaced the horror she felt, "I'll tell Haku as soon as I wake up that you're doing this. What makes you think he won't kill you the moment he finds you?"_

_ Yubaba smiled widely, wrapping her claw around Sen's slender neck, "As soon as you wake up, you won't remember this place. You won't remember the chains, the dark, or this conversation. You won't have anything to tell him."_

_ Sen could feel the color draining from her face as the gravity of the situation finally sunk in. No one would be able to help her; no one would be able to save her. _

_ Because no one would ever know what Yubaba was doing to her until it was too late._

_ "What are you going to make me do to him?" She managed between short, rapid breaths. The hysterics inside of her were dangerously close to bubbling over and there was nothing she could do to stop them. "Please Yubaba, don't do this! I'll do anything! Please, just don't make me hurt him!""_

_ Yubaba flashed a devilish grin before disappearing into a cloud of silver smoke._

_ "Yubaba!" Sen screamed into the dark, thrashing wildly against the chains that shackled her. "Yubaba, you can have me! You can do anything you want with me, just don't hurt him! Please, I'm begging you!" Blood trickled down the chains from where they were gouging into her arms as she struggled. After a few more minutes of useless pleading and fighting her bonds, Sen fell to the stone floor in tears. "I'm begging you, Yubaba. I love him."_

_ The witch's disembodied voice filled the dark emptiness one last time, "Everyone must learn their place and love has no place in the Bath House."_

_..._

"NO!" Sen screamed, jolting upright in her kakebuton. She tried to calm herself by drawing in deep breaths of cool morning air, but her body refused to cooperate. Instead, she kept gasping for air and clutching at her chest where her heart was desperately trying to escape from her ribcage.

Something horrible had happened in her dreams, but she couldn't remember what it was.

Sen fell limply back onto her bedroll, throwing her arm over her eyes. Her skull felt like it was splitting in two. As her heartbeat started to slow, she realized just how terrible her entire body felt. Every part of her hurt.

Even her heart.

"Sen?" Someone called from the hallway. "Sen? Are you there?"

"Yeah," she called back, sitting up again. Just as she pushed the hair out of her eyes, Rin came bursting into their room.

"Oh, good. I'm glad you're awake. I tried to let you sleep a little later since it seemed like you were having bad dreams last night, but Yubaba sent down some orders so I'm afraid it's time to get up."

Sen felt a random shiver run down her spine at the sound of the witch's name, "Sure. What does she want?"

Rin smirked, "Seems Haku is feeling a little under the weather today. Yubaba wants you to wait on him hand and foot until he feels better."

Simultaneously, Sen felt a jolt of excitement and terror. She knew where the excitement came from, but the terror seemingly came from nowhere. Why would she ever be afraid to spend time with him? Her brain knew the thing that attacked her in Haku's room wasn't really him. Could her body still be reacting to that?

She pushed those thoughts aside, certain the fear was only lingering from whatever nightmare she'd been having. Sen quickly stood and rolled up her kakebuton, "Give me a minute to get dressed and then I'll run down to the kitchen to grab his breakfast."

Rin chuckled, "I bet you'll feed him in bed, too."

Sen blushed furiously, lobbing a pillow at her friend's as hard as she could, "Shut up!"

The weasel spirit continued to smiled as she tossed the pillow back at Sen. Rin shouted as she made her way down the stairs, "Hurry up. I'll be the _Master_ is starving."

Sen quickly put her bedroll in the cupboard with everyone else's before frantically searching for her clothes. Still pushing that relentless, nagging fear to the back of her mind, she clasped her bra, tied on her blue apron, and pulled up her pink work pants. She has just finished pulling on her pink shirt when the shoji to the balcony burst open with a great gust of wind that made her jump.

"Stupid doors," Sen muttered as she went to close them. "You would think, with all the money we make her, that Yubaba would be able to afford to replace a few of these. I bet this thing kept sliding open all night and that's why I feel sick today."

She slammed the shojis shut and then quickly wound her purple hair-band around her long, thick ponytail. Her stomach started to do interesting little flips as she thought about spending the entire day with Haku in his room, taking care of him. The fear that threatened to grasp her heart seemed to lessen just a little whenever she thought of him. Not wanting to waste another second, Sen darted out of the room and down the stairs towards the kitchens.

But she didn't go alone.

Unbeknownst to Sen, a small paper bird had come in through the open balcony shoji and silently planted itself underneath her ponytail on the back of her head.

...

Zeniba couldn't see anything but a mass of shimmering brown hair, but she could hear everything and that would be enough. As Sen was running down the stairs, her ponytail bounced, giving Zeniba glances of the Bath House she hadn't seen in so long. It then occurred to her that others might be able to see the paper bird, too.

With a short flick of her thick wrist, Zeniba instructed the paper bird to act as a chameleon and shift from white to mahogany brown.

"Now," the witch said to herself in her scratchy voice, "let's see what my sister is up to."


	12. Chapter 12

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi everyone! It feels so good to be writing again. Just a quick little suggestion; I recommend listening to "In the Sun" by Joseph Arthur (on repeat) while reading this chapter. I did while writing it, and I felt like it added a lot of emotion. I apologize in advance bc the song definitely gives the vibe of being a bit religious, but something about the music and most of the lyrics seem to fit here perfectly. Anyway, please enjoy! I really felt like there needed to be a heavy ChihiroxHaku chapter since there hasn't been one in a while. Oh, and don't be shy; let me know what you like or don't like!**

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Sen stood, frozen in place outside of Haku's room. What was wrong with her today? Something inside her mind was screaming, begging her to turn around and just go back downstairs before it was too late. But… too late for what? Something clawed at her subconscious viciously, warning her that this was a mistake.

She found herself smirking in disbelief at her own thoughts: Haku, a mistake? Even during their thirteen year separation, she never once thought of him as a mistake. If anything, Haku was a blessing, a beam of light in her shockingly dark subconscious lately. He would never, _could_ never, be a mistake to her.

Sen took a deep breath before gently knocking on the shojis before her.

"Mmmm," called a soft voice from the other side of the door.

Furrowing her brow at the unusual response, Sen slid the doors open as gently as she could and entered the room. Upon shutting the door and putting down Haku's tray, Sen looked up and immediately began to feel her heart race. Haku was laying haphazardly on his bedroll with one arm hanging off the side and his face turned toward the half-open shoji next to him. His long sea-foam green hair was a disorderly mass on his pillows, giving his ghostly pale skin an almost ethereal glow. Sen felt a deep blush creep into her cheeks; she had never seen him like this before… so vulnerable, so _normal_. After setting his food tray next to the door, she made her way to the bed. Sen cleared her throat gently as she brushed away a stray lock of hair from his eyes. Almost instantaneously, Haku mumbled incoherently and turned his face into her hand.

She smiled, stroking her thumb softly against the satin-smooth skin of his cheek. It was then that she noticed just how warm his skin was. Looking closer at the cheek beneath her hand, Sen also realized that there was a slight flush in his skin. So spirits really could get sick; who knew?

Luckily, Sen was able to find a small washcloth in Haku's bathroom so she put a tiny, round bath token onto the string above the sink and gave it a yank. Seconds later, a smaller version of the aqueducts that filled the large baths downstairs began to pour cold water onto the cloth. After it was doused, Sen folded it and placed it onto Haku's forehead.

_It could be so easy. You could cut his throat right here and he would never wake up._

Sen froze, the unfamiliar voice in her head sending piercing waves of fear throughout her body.

_No one would ever suspect you. You could kill him so easily, Sen._

Why in the world would she ever think such a thing? She loved this man and that was something she felt to the deepest depths of her soul. She could _never_ hurt Haku.

But something in her mind just told her to kill him.

Haku grumbled something else, bringing her out of her horrified paralysis. He furrowed his brows, turning his head from side to side. "Chihiro…"

She held the cloth to his face so it wouldn't fall off, "Shh, Haku it's alright. I'm right here."

His breathing quickened, "Chihiro… so dark… come back…"

Her gut twisted uncomfortably. Sen grabbed Haku's hand and held it to her face, "I'm right here, Haku. I'm not going anywhere."

Haku started to hyperventilate and she could feel his pulse start to race. He started thrashing wildly, "I have to… find her! Chihiro!"

Unable to stand seeing Haku frightened, Sen shook his shoulders, "Haku! Haku, wake up! You're just dreaming, I'm right here!"

Haku gasped as his eyes snapped open and he bolted upright. It took him a moment to adjust before he realized that she was there. Through uneven, desperate breaths, he found her face and managed one word, "_Chihiro_."

When he said her name with such relief, such love, she couldn't help but throw herself into his arms and wrap hers around his torso protectively. Sen felt his breathing start to slow as he embraced her. "You were having a nightmare. Are you okay?"

"I will be," he murmured, kissing the top of her head. "Just give me a moment with you like this."

"You can have as long as you need. I'm not going anywhere."

She could hear the soft smile in his voice, "Good."

They stayed like that for a while, just holding each other in silence. As the minutes ticked by, Sen heard Haku's heartbeat and breathing return to normal. Even so, he didn't let her go. Instead, Haku simply rested his face on the top of her head and ran his hands up and down her back.

After what seemed like an eternity, he spoke quietly, "What happened?"

Sen pulled away to look at his face, "Something must have really scared you. At first you just mumbled my name a few times, but then… you were asking me not to go. After that… it was like you couldn't find me. Do you remember what you dreamt about?"

His beautiful jade eyes darkened, "Something was wrong. My river couldn't get to you last night. When I reached for you, you just kept slipping into darkness. I could see you in the dark, but I couldn't touch you. I called your name, but it was like you couldn't hear me."

"You saw me in the dark?" Sen shivered. Something about being in the dark tugged at the edges of her memories and filled her with dread. "That sounds so familiar."

"Did you dream of being in the dark last night? Or did you dream of me?"

She thought for a moment, "I… I don't really remember anything specific. I know I wasn't with you like I usually am. Something was wrong for me, too."

Haku frowned, "I don't like this. Yubaba must be messing with your dreams to scare you."

Sen bit her lip anxiously, "That's what I was afraid of."

He cupped her face, "Hey, look at me."

She looked up at his glorious face without a moment's hesitation.

"Chihiro, I want you to listen to me," Haku held her gaze. "You are the only thing that matters to me, the only thing in this world I will ever need or want. I will _never_ let Yubaba hurt you, no matter what tricks she tries to pull. You found your way back to me even after all the pain I put you through, and I will never let anyone or anything take you away ever again. As long as you want me, I will be here. Anyone who wants to harm you will have to make it past me first, and I guarantee I will not give in easily. You're safe with me, Chihiro. I swear it."

Tears threatened to make an unwelcome appearance in the corner of her eyes. She wanted to believe that he could protect her, but something inside of her was already gnawing away, leaving nothing but devastation in its wake. Whatever Yubaba had planned was already happening and there was nothing Haku could do about it. She was already beyond his protection, she could just feel it.

But telling him that would only cause him pain, something Sen never wanted to do.

So instead, she gave him a shaky smile and changed the subject, "You have no idea how much I love you."

Haku welcomed the change, letting out a tender chuckle as he leaned toward her, "You know, I will never get tired of hearing that, no matter how long I live."

The unfamiliar voice swirled angrily in her mind again. _Enjoy it while you can. He won't be here much longer._

Despite the unrelenting terror that accompanied the voice in her head, Sen instead found herself caught up in Haku, like always. She couldn't help but be consumed by him, he was all she thought of for thirteen years, and now he was in front of her, "That may be a very long time. Are you sure it won't get annoying?"

He stopped, millimeters away from her mouth, "I'm not sure. Say it again."

She blushed furiously and her voice was small, "I love you, Kohaku."

Haku pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth, "Hm… I'm still not sure. Once more?"

Sen found herself wrapping her arms around his neck, "I love you, Haku. I'm yours."

He smiled against her mouth, "It feels like I've waited a lifetime to hear those words. No matter how many times you say them, I will always want more."

Her heart pounded violently, like it always did, when he came close enough to kiss her. The moment his god-like lips touched hers, she could feel all of the seemingly irrational fears melt away; Yubaba didn't matter, the darkness inside her mind didn't matter, the thing that attacked her didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that she belonged to Haku, and he belonged to her, and Sen was ready to take every part of him that he intended to give.

...

How he ever survived without her, Haku wasn't sure. Chihiro was everything; the sun and moon in the sky, the water he was born of, the air he breathed. This woman had once been just a friend, just a small child that he wanted to help get home to her parents. Now she consumed him. In the thirteen years that she was gone, Haku had been nothing but a shell—drifting through the days simply because there was nothing else to do until he could see her at night. At first he'd convinced himself that he just wanted to check up on her, to make sure she was doing alright after leaving his world. But after spending night after night with her, watching her grow up and become so beautiful, he knew his intentions were no longer platonic. Over thirteen years, Haku had fallen deeply in love with her. Yet, he never once imagined he would ever actually see her in person again.

And now that she had finally come back to him, Yubaba wanted to take her away.

Haku's could not even stomach the thought of Chihiro leaving again, not after she admitted that she loved him too.

_I love you, Haku. I'm yours._

_I'm yours._

_Yours._

Her words, words he never imagined he would ever hear, rang throughout his mind over and over. _His._ The thought made his inner dragon roar with triumph. Dragons were notorious for being possessive of their mates, and just the thought of staking a claim on her had always made him feel primal and animalistic, like a full dragon.

She was his mate and she acknowledged that, out loud, without fear or hesitation. She was everything he had ever dreamed of.

Haku pulled away from her for a moment, "Stay with me."

Still dazed from the kiss, Chihiro opened her eyes slightly and crinkled her brow, "What?"

"Every month, Yubaba shuts down the bath house for a day so everyone can have a day off. Most travel to see their families. Tomorrow is the day, so stay with me."

She was more alert now, "You mean… stay here, in your room, with you?"

Haku nodded.

Chihiro blushed, "I… I don't know, Haku. Are you sure we should push Yubaba right now?"

"Chihiro," he held her face gingerly, knowing exactly what her real fears were. "We both know this is not about Yubaba. Do you really believe I would take advantage of you?"

She bit her lip but remained silent.

This made him angry. He got up from his shikibuton and paced across the room, "You really think of me that way, Chihiro? You think I would _force _myself on you? I have loved you for so long; how could you even think that I would do something like that you?"

"No!" She jumped up and ran over to him, throwing herself in his arms to hide her tears. "I didn't mean that it was you I didn't trust!"

Haku stopped and looked down at the tiny creature in his arms in disbelief. She was afraid of herself.

When she looked up at him, tears were spilling over the rims of her eyes, "Please, don't misunderstand Haku. It's not you I don't trust. I'm just so scared of Yubaba and what she might try to do that I'm afraid of being impulsive. I'm afraid I might…" Chihiro shook her head and looked away for a moment before allowing her beautiful chocolate eyes to find his again. "I don't want it to happen like that, out of fear. I don't want it to happen because of Yubaba. She may own my name, but she doesn't own us."

Haku felt himself melt with every word she spoke. Did she have any idea what she did to him? He kissed her forehead, "I won't let that happen, I promise. Just stay with me. I have spent thirteen years waiting for you to come home, Chihiro."

She smiled up at him, "I am home, aren't I?"

He managed to murmur a delicate "Yes" before capturing her mouth again.

...

"How are you feeling?" Sen asked anxiously between mouthfuls of rice.

Haku smiled at her from across his small table, "Much better than I was this morning, thank you."

This made her happy; seeing the love of her life, a strong dragon spirit, terrified and sickened by a nightmare was not something she ever hoped to see again. Trying to put that out of her mind, she finished her rather large portion of dried fish quickly, all the while eyeing Haku to make sure he was eating, too. Once he finished all the food she had gotten from the kitchen for him, Haku lied back onto the tatami mats and sighed contentedly.

"What do you usually do after dinner?" Sen asked, flustered. She wasn't used to spending this much time with Haku, it made her jittery and worried; like maybe he would discover she was boring or something.

His eyes were closed and he answered nonchalantly, "I usually take a hot bath after dinner. And after this morning, I definitely feel like I need one."

Sen gathered their empty dishes and put them on the silver tray by the door, "Should I start your water?"

Haku sat up, his face slightly red, "You don't have to do that, Chihiro. You are not an employee here and I am certainly not your boss."

She smiled, enjoying that thought and the implications that came with it, "I don't mind. I'm just thrilled that you're feeling okay now. And if you think a bath would help even more, I don't mind helping at all."

He cracked a smile, "Then I would greatly appreciate it."

Sen went into the bathroom and found a good herbal soak token in Haku's token bucket next to the tub. Once she attached it to the cord and yanked, a long aqueduct descended from the wall and began to fill the black tub. As soon as the large basin was filled with the fragrant, cloudy water, she called for Haku.

_Poison the water, Sen._

_Drown him, Sen._

_No one will ever know it was you, Sen._

The terrifying voice in her head was back, goading her to hurt the man she loved. Sen gripped her head with one hand and gripped the rim of the tub with the other. The voice was growing louder, making her skull feel like it was going to split in two.

"No," she whispered to herself. "No, no, no. Go away."

_He's too powerful, Sen. Haku is dangerous._

"He's not. Not to me."

The voice tried a different approach. _He doesn't love you, Sen. He's lying._

Sen shook her head, "He has no reason to lie. Nothing to gain."

_Are you so sure?_

"Chihiro?" Haku's voice wrapped around her like a protective ribbon. "What's the matter? Are you feeling alright?"

She felt his strong hand on her shoulder and the sinister voice instantly dissipated. Sen straightened herself and gave him a halfhearted smile, "I've just had a headache all day, but I'm fine. Your water is ready."

He wasn't buying it. His deep jade eyes assessed her for a moment, "I think you need this bath more than I do. I'll give you a moment to get in. Call for me when you're ready."

Sen's eyes grew wide as he left the bathroom, "…Ready for what?" She asked quietly, more to herself than him.

Of course he heard her. From the other side of the shoji, Haku answered, "I was not well this morning, and you took care of me. Now, you need someone to take care of you, Chihiro."

...

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yayy! Finally time for some ChihiroxHaku bonding time! Before all the really horrible stuff starts to happen, I think it's important for them to have some time alone. Then again, I'm a sucker for character/relationship development. Enjoy the sweet romance while you can folks; Yubaba's ready to make some waves.**


	13. Chapter 13

***AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I only changed the rating to 'M' because of the moderate violence in this chapter and I wanted to make sure that I was in line with the rules of this site. I'm sure it may have been okay as a 'T' rating, but I have worked so hard on this that I didn't want it all to be ruined by a rating mistake. Please be assured, there will not be any real 'mature' content in this story just like there has not really been any so far. Again, I just wanted to change it for the moderate violence. I sincerely hope I do not lose any readers over this small change; I just ask you understand my desire to follow the rules. Thanks so much guys. :)****

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Sen could not stop blushing. It didn't matter that the bath water was visually impenetrable from Kamaji's mix of healing herbs and it didn't matter that the tub was deep enough for her to be sitting on the bottom while only leaving her décolletage above the water. She was completely naked in a bath… in Haku's quarters… while Haku was in the room with her.

She wouldn't be surprised if the blush on her cheeks never went away again.

With blinding speed, Haku twisted Sen's ponytail on top of her head and snapped her purple band into place. "There; now I can properly reach your neck."

Her hand flew to the curve of her shoulder nervously, "Why do you need to do that?"

Just then, there was a gentle _knock knock_ on the shoji to Haku's quarters.

"Excuse me for a moment," he smiled at her as he went to answer the door.

Sen fidgeted under the water anxiously. What was Haku planning? Of course she trusted him, especially after she confessed that she didn't want to give herself to him out of fear from Yubaba. But still…

The shoji to the bathroom slid quietly shut and Sen looked back to see Haku holding a bowl of some paste that smelled strangely like eucalyptus. Haku set the bowl on the ledge of the tub before he began untying his kimono top.

Her eyes widened, "What… what are you doing?!"

He chuckled softly at her alarmed expression, "Chihiro, please relax. I just don't want to get the herbal paste on my kimono. I doubt the smell would ever come out."

Sen's tensed muscles relaxed a little, "Oh. Yeah, you're probably right it does smell pretty strong. What is—"

Sen suddenly found it hard to catch her breath. Haku's kimono slipped silently from his shoulders, revealing the planes of his lean, sculpted chest and abdomen. For years, she wondered what body type was hiding beneath his kimono; would he be thin? Scrawny? Muscular? Average? What she was witnessing didn't fit into any of the categories she had previously imagined. Haku was not traditionally 'muscular'; there were no bulging biceps or insanely defined abs. Instead, his frame was delicate, yet undeniably strong: he was tall and lean, with bands of sleek muscles bunching and stretching fluidly beneath his milky white skin. When her eyes reached Haku's softly defined Adonis belt, she quickly averted her eyes as the raging blush returned to her cheeks.

Did he have to be so damn beautiful?

Haku knelt behind her, "You were going to ask me something?"

She cleared her throat, "Uhm… I don't…"

He laughed, nudging her playfully, "Chihiro, you seem flustered."

"Shut up," Sen grumbled, wrapping her arms around her submerged knees. She jumped a little when she felt the cold paste being applied to the back of her neck and the curve of her shoulders. When the medicinal smell hit her, she remembered her question. "I was going to ask what that paste was. It smells just like eucalyptus."

Haku massaged the paste into her skin rhythmically, "I'm not entirely sure what herbs are in here. I simply requested something that would ease a headache."

She smiled, her heart fluttering. He really did care about her.

They remained in silence for a long time as Haku massaged the medicinal paste into her neck and shoulders. After a while, Sen's headache actually dissipated and she felt relaxed enough to close her eyes, "Mmmm," she sighed contentedly.

There were a few more minutes of quiet before it was Haku who cleared his throat, "…Chihiro? There was actually something I have been meaning to ask you."

For the first time ever, Haku sounded nervous. "You can ask me anything, Haku." At first he didn't say anything; he just kept rubbing her shoulders. Sen looked back to see that a deep blush was creeping into his cheeks. "Haku?"

When his eyes met hers, she could clearly see his hesitation. This sudden change in behavior confused Sen; Haku was usually so confident and bold, why would a simple question make him so nervous? She grabbed his hand and turned to face him. "What kind of question could possibly make you blush? I don't think I've ever even _seen _you flustered before!"

He cleared his throat again, "I just… it's a very personal question."

Sen put her hand on his face, smiling, "You don't have to be embarrassed, Haku. I'll tell you anything you ever want to know. What is it?"

Haku seemed to consider asking his question for a moment before he kissed her palm and stood up, "That should be enough of the herbal mixture to alleviate your headache for the night. Whenever you finish your bath, you can put on my extra kimono to sleep in. I'll be waiting for you in the other room."

Before she could think of anything to say, Haku was gone. He was acting so strange, all over some silly question. Naturally, now Sen _had_ to know what it was.

...

Sen tied the sash of Haku's large kimono tightly around her waist. She debated on what to do with her hair for a while before just deciding to leave it down in order to air-dry. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself before stepping out of the bathroom.

Once again, Sen was nearly knocked breathless at the sight of Haku. He was sitting on his shikibuton, leaning against the wall and reading a book. He still had no shirt on and his long sea-foam hair hung unencumbered around him. When he glanced in her direction and caught her eyes, he smiled.

"How do you feel, Chihiro?"

She couldn't help but smile back, "Much better. Thank you for that."

Haku surveyed her for a moment, "My kimono suits you." Was that pride in his voice?

Sen looked down, face reddening, as she made her way over to him, "Yeah, I guess it does." She sat gingerly at the foot of his bedroll, finally forcing herself to speak. "So what did you want to ask me, Haku?"

He froze again.

She thought for a moment, "Hm. Maybe… what if I was willing to bargain for your question?"

He eyed her suspiciously, "What do you mean?"

Sen scooted on the bedroll until she was sitting right next to him. Although she never dreamed of being this bold, she was dying to know what Haku's question was. "What if I offered… a kiss for your question?"

Haku relaxed slightly, a smile spreading across his lips, "I'm not quite sure I would be able to resist that bargain, Chihiro."

She felt her nervousness melt away at his smile, "That's the idea."

He sat up and wound his arms around her waist, "And what exactly," Haku placed a soft kiss on the underside of her jaw, "are the conditions of this bargain? You kiss me, and I have to ask my question? I know you better than that, Chihiro. That seems too easy."

Sen shivered, her voice shaking, "N… no. You have to ask me whatever you wanted first, and then I kiss you. Otherwise… you could… back out."

Haku let out a delicate chuckle that seared Sen's insides. She felt his lips at her ear, "And how do I know you will follow through, Chihiro?"

Sen turned her head to look at him, which she instantly realized was a mistake. Haku's lips were so close, she could feel his warm breath on her own. Instantly, her heart started hammering frantically in her chest. She felt his grip on her waist tighten as he pulled her even closer. "H… Haku…"

Haku's liquid jade eyes were soft as they watched her struggle to resist him. He kissed the corner of her mouth as he often liked to do, "Yes, Chihiro?"

Her hands were trembling now, "P… please ask me. Before… before the bargain become pointless."

He immediately buried his face in the curve of her shoulder, she assumed to hide his blush, "Ahh, I'm embarrassed just to be thinking of it. But… I can't stop myself from wondering. I need to know."

A million potential questions swirled around in her mind, "Then just ask, Haku. I'll tell you anything."

There was a moment of hesitation before he spoke, though his voice was quiet, "The way you reacted when I removed my kimono, so shocked to see me… have you never…" Haku stopped before looking up to meet her quizzical gaze. "Has there never been anyone?"

Sen was confused, "Haku?"

He let go of her waist and leaned back on one arm as he pushed a few stray locks of sea green hair out of his face. His cheeks were still stained pink as he looked away, "You seemed as if you had never… seen a man before. I was just wondering… if that was true?"

Finally what Haku was asking clicked in her brain. Her cheeks flushed a bit but she leaned towards him, turning his face with her hand, "You want to know if I've ever been with a man." She surmised.

As Sen wouldn't let him turn his face away from her, Haku had no choice but to look at her sheepishly, "I cannot imagine someone else with you like this, so intimate. I just can't stomach the hundreds of scenarios in my mind anymore, Chihiro. I know it's very personal… and I know that I have no right to ask as I left you alone for 13 years—"

Sen couldn't help it; she started laughing.

Haku looked horrified, "What part of this is even remotely funny?"

"I'm sorry," she managed between giggling fits. "I shouldn't laugh but you are just so funny! Hahaha, really Haku you are just ridiculous sometimes."

He furrowed his brow, clearly still confused.

Sen eventually managed to stop her laughter, but the smirk on her lips refused to go away, "If I'm not mistaken, Master Haku is _jealous_. I never imagined I would live to see that."

He drew her onto his lap, pulling her face down so he could kiss her. Instantly, Sen melted and her bones once again turned to gelatin. Haku's lips were desperate against hers and he was clinging to her like it was the end of days. With her hands on his neck, she could feel his pulse racing frantically beneath his skin. He really _was_ jealous!

Sen disentangled her mouth from his for a moment as she looked down into his eyes, "Haku—"

"Please, Chihiro," he mumbled breathlessly against her jaw. "I have changed my mind, I don't want to know. It does not matter because you're here with me now."

She pulled away a little and rested her forehead against his, "Kohaku… do you have any idea how many times I've imagined you with someone else? Since I've regained my memories of you, I found myself wondering if you ever… I mean, you thought you would never see me again; it would only make sense for you to move on. I know what it's like to feel jealous over those thoughts, Haku. You aren't alone."

He smirked up at her, finally returning to his normal self, "You know, I am actually enjoying the thought of you being jealous, Chihiro. Even if the rationale behind it is absurd."

"And why is it absurd?"

"Chihiro," his eyes softened. "There has only ever been room for you in my heart. No one else could ever make me feel what you do, even if I never saw you again. I have told you before, there is nothing for me without you."

"How easily you can say that, yet you still thought that _I_ would move on," Sen nuzzled his nose affectionately. "Of course there has never been anyone else for me, Haku. That's why I was laughing. I told you, I grew up feeling like a part of me was missing, and the only time I ever felt whole was when my river came to see me. I only ever wanted my river… I only ever wanted you. I'm yours, and only yours. Forever."

Haku kissed her tenderly this time, rumpling her damp hair with his free hand, "Luckily for me, forever is a very long time."

...

_Sen sighed contentedly. Instead of being bound in darkness like Yubaba had threatened the last time she slept, Sen was in the one place where she knew nothing could harm her: the Kohaku River. She turned her face up towards the moonlight, relishing the delicate caresses of the water on her skin. Like always, it was only a matter of time before her river said the same words it always did when she arrived. And God, did she live for those words._

_Silence._

_Maybe the river just needed a bit longer; after all, she hadn't been here in quite some time._

_More silence._

_Sen frowned. For as long as she and the river had been coming to each other, it had never once missed a greeting. It had never once forgotten to say it missed her. She kicked her legs a bit, not really headed in any certain direction but still moving just in case her river just didn't know she was here._

_After a few more minutes of silence, she stopped swimming in order to take in her surroundings for the first time. The water, usually clear at night, was a deep onyx that even the moons rays couldn't penetrate. It even tasted wrong; instead of the crisp, clean river water she knew so well, it was foul tasting and acidic on her tongue. Something wasn't right here._

"_Kohaku?" She called out anxiously into the vast expanse of black water. "Are you here?"_

_Instantly, the moonlight above disappeared and thick chains shot up from the darkness below her to wrap tightly around her entire body. Sen screamed, writhing furiously in an attempt to try and break free from these all-too familiar chains. This wasn't her river after all; Yubaba had simply tricked her in order to get Sen to let her guard down._

"_No! No, no, no! Please, not again!" She shrieked, her cries exiting as bubbles that floated up towards nowhere. "Please Yubaba, let me go!"_

"_You know, Sen," the disembodied voice of the witch resonated in the water surrounding her, "it didn't have to be like this. If you had just given in to my mental persuasion earlier, all of this would be over. You could have just killed him quickly and then you would never have to come back here again. Ah, but I think I knew it would never have been that easy."_

_Sen continued to fight against her bindings, "I told you I would never help you hurt him."_

_Yubaba's voice sighed dramatically, "I'm beginning to see that you meant that. Fortunately for me, magic over the mind is not my only option with you. Don't you remember what I told you last time you were here? Your physical body belongs to me now."_

"_Yu… Yubaba… no…!"_

_The witch cackled darkly, "Oh, yes. But for me, all of this would be meaningless if Haku simply died; I require much more than that as payment for what you two have done. No, not only will he die, but I want to make sure that you understand just how it is your fault. You see Sen, you could have avoided this all so easily. Do you remember that envelope I ordered you to take to Haku's quarters? The envelope's contents don't matter really- it was only a single piece of parchment with the phrase 'I win' written on it. No… what really mattered was the actual envelope."_

_Sen gasped, "A spell… that's why I felt like I was drunk in my dream!"_

"_Very good, Sen. See, although your mind is able to resist even the strongest memory spells, it is still weak to other types of magic. At first, the spell on the envelope was just another feeble attempt to keep your memories of Haku locked away, but that easily failed as I knew it would. Luckily, the spell made you mentally weak and you fell asleep in Haku's room, which made is so simple for my 3 heads to get to you. More importantly, the spell on the envelope was physically transferred to you the moment you touched it. And you made it transferable to Haku when you slept in his bed. That spell made him sick and weakened him just long enough for me to penetrate his dreams. Of course, just making him sick was enough for everything to fall into place, but I really couldn't resist scaring him a little, too."_

"_How could making him a little sick for a few hours matter at all?" Sen managed to ask through the terror that was settling into the pit of her stomach._

_Yubaba suddenly materialized in front of her with a wide sneer on her face, "You may not have remembered being in the dark with me, but something in the back of your mind was warning you to stay away from Haku. Would you have come to see him if he hadn't been ill?"_

_Horror replaced Sen's fury. If Rin hadn't told her that Haku was sick, she would have ignored Yubaba's order. Something in her subconscious had been warning her to stay away from him, but she couldn't handle the thought of Haku, _her_ Haku, being sick with no one to take care of him. So she had gone to see him against all of the warnings in her mind._

"_No…" Sen shook her head, tears spilling in large globs down her cheeks. "No… it can't be…"_

_The witch dragged a sharp, lacquered nail down Sen's cheek, "Now that you have a clear understanding of how this is your fault, I think it's time for you to wake up. I want Haku dead before the sun rises."_

_..._

Sen's eyes snapped open. She could see that she was still exactly where she had fallen asleep: cuddled next to Haku with her head on his chest and his arm draped over her. Against her will, Sen's body silently slid from Haku's grasp and off the shikibuton; to her horror, Haku didn't budge. Her legs forced her to walk around the bedroll to the side where Haku was sleeping. She tried to speak, to cry out or say something in warning, but her voice refused to come and her lips wouldn't move. The only thing she could do was watch.

As Sen looked down at the beautiful spirit, tears welled in her eyes. His seraphic face was turned towards the place where she had been sleeping and his long hair was fanned out behind and above him; the rays of moonlight from the open shojis causing a rippling sheen on his hair that made it look like sea kelp. Even his bare chest seemed to glow under the light of the moon. All the times Haku called her beautiful came rushing back to the forefront of her mind; over the last 13 years, he had always told her how stunning she looked to him and yet, Sen had never gotten the chance to tell Haku just how breathtaking he had grown up to be.

Now, she never would.

For a brief moment, Haku seemed to stir. Sen's heart began to race; if he woke up and saw her standing above him like this, he would know that something was wrong and be able to get away from her before she did something terrible.

_I'm here!_ Sen screamed in her mind. _Please Haku, please wake up. Please, see me!_

"Mmm… Chihiro," he mumbled before turning on his stomach and falling back asleep.

Her fingers snapped quietly and a sheathed samurai sword materialized before her. Sen tried with all her strength to resist grabbing the sword, but her hand did it anyway.

_God, please no. No, no, no! I can't do this to him!_

She stealthily unsheathed the pulsating sword, dropped the black sheath on the tatamis, and grabbed the hilt tightly with both hands, pointing it downwards and directly over Haku's bare back.

_I won't do this! I won't let Yubaba destroy him; I won't have his blood on my hands! I love him!_

Surprisingly, her hands were shaking. Sen could feel that they wanted to plunge the sword into Haku's back, but she was managing to delay them. The sword was inching closer and closer to Haku, but at an incredibly slow rate.

"You can fight this, Sen."

Sen froze. The soft voice, nearly identical to Yubaba's, was coming from the scroll painting above Haku's bed. It was then that she noticed one lone paper bird clinging to the picture.

_Granny!_

"I know you can't speak, Sen, just listen to me. I would come and help you, but I can't enter the Bath House so this is the best I can do for now. My sister has planted a control slug inside of you, much like the one Haku had inside of him before you saved him. The only thing that can stop the slug is love. If you keep thinking of how much you love Haku, you might be able to stop it. I… I'm not positive that it will work, but you have to try."

Sen's eyes pleaded with the paper bird, desperately trying to convey her thoughts through a single look.

"I know you want me to wake Haku, but I can't Sen. If I did that, the slug would make you kill him instantly. You have to fight this on your own."

_I won't hurt Haku._ Sen thought ferociously, knowing Granny was right. _I have loved him for so long, all I want it is to spend my life with him to make up for all the time we wasted. Haku is my life, and killing him would kill me. I don't care what Yubaba choses to do to me; she can have me if it means Haku will be safe. I won't let her take him from me!_

Sen's grip on the hilt of the sword loosened a little.

"That's it, Sen! Keep going!" Zeniba's voice was exuberant.

_There will never be anyone that I love more than Haku. We saved each other and there isn't a single spell or type of magic in this world or the next that could make me forget that. I don't care how many times Yubaba tries to hurt me or send me away; I will always come back and fight for him because he fought for me!_

Her arms dropped to her sides, the sword held weakly in her right hand.

_I did it!_

"You did it, Sen! Can you move or speak now?" Zeniba asked from her paper bird.

Oddly enough, she still couldn't do either. It was then that Sen's legs forced her through the open shoji and onto the balcony, sword still in hand.

"Sen? Sen?!"

_Granny! Granny, help me! Something's wrong! _Her thoughts screamed, panicked.

When Sen reached the railing, her legs climbed until she was standing precariously at the edge of the wooden balustrade. The wind whipped her long chocolate hair around her face viciously as she looked helplessly out into the night.

Yubaba's voice filled Sen's mind. _If I can't have Haku dead, you will do._

Sen's eyes widened as her hands once again gripped the sword's hilt tightly. Unable to move her neck, Sen watched a shooting star streak brilliantly across the clear night sky as the force controlling her hands plunged the razor sharp blade into her own abdomen.

The breath rapidly _whooshed_ from Sen's lungs as she dropped the blood-soaked blade and tumbled from Haku's balcony towards the seemingly endless sea that surrounded the Bath House.

_You're safe now, Haku_. _I love you… remember me._

And she hit the water just as everything went black.

...

...

...

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Don't worry; the story isn't over yet!**


	14. Chapter 14

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hopefully you all don't hate me too much for the previous chapter! I just can't write something lovey-dovey without making it at least a little interesting, right?! Anyway, this time we get to see the river dreams from Haku's POV, so that's something new. :] Also, please be aware that whenever you see (…), this means that the POV is changing. Enjoy the feels, and please let me know what you think!**

**...**

**...**

**...**

_Blood. So much blood._

_ Haku was suffocating as the water of his river was polluted with more and more blood. Where was all of this coming from? Nothing living in his river was hurt… so what was bleeding?_

_ In the distance, feeble words were spoken through gasps, "You're safe now, Haku. I love you… remember me."_

_ That voice… so familiar… as if he'd heard it a thousand times…_

_ Haku froze, realizing with increasing horror whose voice it was._

_ "Chihiro?!" He called out, frantic. "Chihiro, where are you?!"_

_ There was no reply, only more blood._

_ Haku closed his eyes and merged his consciousness with his river fully, sensing there wasn't any time to waste. Whoever was injured wouldn't last much longer while losing this much blood. And if that person was Chihiro…_

_ When his eyes opened again, he was everything. He was the water and the sediment and the rocks; he was even the algae and the moss. In this moment, Haku had no physical form. In this moment, Haku was Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi and he _was _the river. Haku sent out forceful waves in place of arms and hands in order to see if either Chihiro or the source of the blood could be located. After scouring every inch of himself, Haku cursed under his breath; nothing out of the ordinary had been found within his river. The blood was coming from a nearby water source._

_ It was then that Haku saw a vague figure floating in the distance._

_ Haku used all of his power to force his currents in the direction of the floating figure. When he reached the very edge of himself, at the exact place where his river ended and the sea began, he had no choice but to stop. One of the few limitations in the Spirit World was that a spirit was not able to cross over into another spirit's domain while without a physical body. For Haku, this meant that he was never allowed to cross into another body of water or to encroach onto land. Spirits were given guardianship over one place and that was the only place they were able to go when abandoning their physical forms. Unable to go any further, Haku watched the floating figure intensely, trying to discern any of its identifying characteristics. Under the smoldering rays of the rising sun, only one thing could be determined for sure._

_ The floating figure had a glimmering purple hair-band around its wrist._

_..._

_ Was she dying? If she was, it certainly didn't hurt like she imagined it would. Actually, her entire body was rather numb and tingly. The only source of discomfort was coming from her abdomen, but even then it was only a dull stinging sensation that didn't really bother her all that much. What did bother her was that the only thing she could think about was Haku. Shouldn't she be concerned about the possibilities of death? Shouldn't she be concerned about where she was and if she was going to get home? Shouldn't she be worried about living and finding her way back to the Bath House?_

_ The Bath House._

_ Something happened at the Bath House, but she couldn't really remember what it was. Maybe whatever happened was why she was dying. Did she get hurt? Did she fall? What the hell happened to her?_

_ Sen opened her eyes slightly. Where was she?_

_ "Where…" She started to say before the previously dull pain in her abdomen wouldn't let her continue. Sen then noticed that when she spoke, not only could she breath pure oxygen, but her words came out in little bubbles that floated towards the surface._

_ She was floating underwater… but where?_

_ She knew without a doubt that she wasn't in the Kohaku River, the water tasted too wrong for that to be the place. Come to think of it, she couldn't really taste the water at all. The only thing she recognized was the coppery taste of blood in her mouth. It was then that Sen noticed the water she was floating in wasn't clear like it should have been; it was darkened with what she assumed was the blood she tasted._

_ Looking down, she saw that the blood around her was seeping steadily from a deep wound in her abdomen._

_ Well that explained a lot. So she _was_ dying._

_ Sen thought for a moment, forcing her mind to recover what had happened before this. Quick flashes of memories played in front of her eyes: an imposter masquerading Haku kissing her, the control slug being planted, Yubaba's disguised voice in her mind goading her to kill Haku, falling asleep with Haku, waking up unable to control her own body, the sword… the balcony… the fall…_

_ She felt a strange sense of relief at remembering everything; even though she would probably die, Haku would probably be safe from Yubaba. The old hag did say that Sen's life would do as repayment in place of Haku's anyway. Which in retrospect made sense because Yubaba only wanted Haku dead so he would no longer be more powerful than her; but with Sen out of the picture, Haku would most likely go back to not being a threat anymore. Besides, Sen knew that she would die in this world eventually. She was a human with a lifespan of maybe 60 more years and Haku was a river spirit who would live forever. Wasn't it better for it to happen now, before they could get any more attached to each other? Yes, she though contentedly, yes this was better. Haku could get over her and move on now. He would never have to worry about saving her ever again._

_ An all-too familiar voice called to her from the distance, "Chihiro?! Chihiro, is that you?! Please answer me if that's you, Chihiro!"_

_ "H… Haku…?" She managed through gasps. No, he couldn't be here now. That would ruin everything! She had to let him go because she was going to die. Seeing him now would only make letting go that much harder._

_ "Oh God, Chihiro it is you. Hold on, I will be there in just a moment. Please just hang on!"_

_ "N… no…" The sharp pain that accompanied her speaking prevented her from finishing again. _

_Haku was going to try to save her even though she very well knew it was too late._

_Letting go was going to hurt much more than this._

_..._

_Haku knew he had two choices: he could wake up, severing his mental connection with Chihiro but then having the ability to physically go out and try to find her or he could remove his consciousness from his river and thus have the ability to be directly next to Chihiro within seconds. If he severed their mental connection, he may not be able to get to her in time… but if stayed with her like this while they were both unconscious, she may die anyway._

_An impossible choice._

"_H… Haku…" Chihiro murmured through gasping breaths._

_To Hell with it, he wasn't leaving her._

_It only took a moment for Haku to remove his consciousness from his river. He was then able to materialize in his river and cross the boundary into the sea where Chihiro was. Haku was next to her within seconds._

"_Oh God…" Haku saw how deep the wound was and that there was a steady stream of blood coursing from it. "Chihiro… God, what happened to you?!"_

_He frantically attempted to put his hands over the wound to ease the bleeding but she stopped him, "D… don't. You… you're safe… now, Haku. So j… just... let me…"_

"_No!" He cried, knocking her hands aside and holding his palms on her abdomen. "How can you ever, _ever_ think that I would just let you DIE?! Do you want me to give up on you so easily? Do you want to leave me so badly?"_

_Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, "It… will be… s… so much har… harder now…"_

_Haku could feel the hysterics that were building in his chest, "Do not _dare_ give up on me, Chihiro! I was prepared to wait for you forever, but you came back to me. You came home to me. How can you just resign to death so easily?! Don't you want to be with me anymore? Don't you want to spend forever as my wife?"_

_Chihiro reached up to touch her fingertips to Haku's face, "O… of course… I do…"_

_He turned into her hand, closing his eyes, "Then how can you just expect me to let you go? How can you expect me to stop loving you?"_

"_I… it had to be… you… or me…"_

_Haku's eyes snapped open as the implications of her statement sank in, "Yubaba made you choose."_

_Chihiro looked into the sunrise above the water's surface as her mahogany hair billowed around her head angelically, "I would… ch… choose the same… again…"_

_He bit his lip, sloppy tears spilling haphazardly from his eyes. The resignation in Chihiro's voice was so heartbreaking, Haku was certain he would never know the feeling of happiness ever again. _

_She wiped a few tears from his face weakly and Haku broke. _

_Hard, violent sobs ripped from Haku's chest viciously as he cried, "Chihiro, please. Please don't give up. I'm begging you. I will do anything for you to fight, just don't give in to death so easily. You are my reason for being, my world and everything in it. You saved me Chihiro, you gave me my name back… you gave me my _life_ back, but I don't want any of it if I can't have you. I was going to wait for you until the end of days, but you came home. You couldn't remember me, but you still managed to come home. Doesn't that mean something? Isn't that proof that you were meant for me?" His hands shook uncontrollably as he sobbed. "Please don't do this to me; I don't think I can take it. I know you did this to save me, but what kind of life is there for me without you, Chihiro? At least when you were back in your own world, I knew you were safe. If you were to die here, like this… because of me…" Haku finally couldn't speak anymore. His sharp, ferocious sobs made it impossible for any more words to make it past his trembling lips. Brutal, unrelenting tears took the place of words and Haku doubled over onto Chihiro's breast._

_The pain of losing the only women he would ever love was so unbearable, he could hardly breathe._

_..._

_In this moment, Sen knew that no manner of death would ever hurt as much as this. Nothing in the world would ever hurt more than seeing Haku, her strong, infallible river spirit, completely broken and unravelling before her eyes. He just continued to sob on her chest, crying and pleading for her to fight, begging her not to leave him._

_She would take death over this pain._

"_H… Haku… please… s… stop…" Sen cried. "I… love you…"_

_He looked up at her, his swollen jade eyes glistening with desperation and pain. Without hesitation, Haku kissed her with more emotion than she realized was possible. Tears streamed from his eyes and onto her cheeks, melding with her own as he tried to stifle his sob. Sen entangled her hands in Haku's long, freely flowing hair and gripped tightly as if he would disappear if she let go. When he finally broke their kiss, Haku didn't open his eyes. He simply rested his forehead against Sen's as he continued to cry._

"_I love you, Chihiro," his voice was broken, cracked. "I am begging you; please, stay with me. Come back with me and be my wife, have my children. We can violate our contracts and run. We can go anywhere you want in this world, I don't care. I will do anything for you if you just stay with me."_

_It was then that Sen knew just how naïve she had been. How could she have ever thought, even for a moment, that she would be able to just let Haku go? This man was everything. He was her reason for breathing and for waking up in the morning. She waited 13 years for him without even knowing it and yet, she had been ready to just give up and die without a second thought. How could she have ever thought that Haku would move on?_

_They were meant for each other, like two pieces of a perfectly interlocking puzzle._

_Now, she made her choice._

"_H… Haku…" She gasped desperately, gripping his hands on her abdomen. "D… don't me go… Don't… don't let me… die…"_

"_Never," Haku sobbed, kissing her through a never-ending stream of tears. "I will never let you go."_

_..._

Zeniba quickly snatched a bright blue cloak from the coat rack as Noh-Face spun silently in the corner. As she wrapped the cloak around herself, Noh-face looked up.

"Ah, ah?" Noh-face asked, motioning to the large red ruby on the neckline of Zeniba's dress.

"Yes," the witch fingered the jewel. "Sen has made her final choice. It's time for us to go and ensure that it was not made in vain."

...

_"You have… to try a… and find m… me…" Sen sputtered. "Or… I'll k… keep… bleeding out…"_

_ Haku froze, tears still spilling from his eyes, "I can't just leave you here!"_

_ Once again, she wiped the tears from his cheeks softly, "P… please… Haku… o… otherwise… I can't… be… your wife…"_

_ The pain in his jade eyes was clear, but so was the knowledge that Sen was right. Haku kissed her fiercely before finally removing his hands from her wound. "I will find you as quickly as I can, Chihiro. Just hold on until I come."_

_ She managed a weak smile and a single nod._

_ Then, Haku dissipated into the water._

_..._

Haku awoke abruptly in his shikibuton. Without a moment's hesitation, he lunged off the bedroll and onto the balcony where he was greeted with a sharpened samurai sword that dripped bright red blood.

Rage quickly replaced the pain Haku had been feeling and he roared ferociously into the sky as his body morphed into that of his dragon. As soon as he was completely transformed, Haku sniffed the bloody blade and then leapt off the balcony into a dive directly towards the sea below the Bath House.

As soon as he found Chihiro and made sure that she would live, Haku was going to tear Yubaba limb from limb with absolutely no mercy.

...

...

...

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Someone pointed something out to me and I would like to clarify the situation really quickly. Chihro did not stab herself intentionally, so she was not trying to kill herself to save Haku. No, no, no. She was under the control of Yubaba's control slug and once Yubaba saw that Chihiro was resisting the control slug's order to kill Haku, Yubaba made the control slug stab Chihiro instead. Chihiro couldn't move of her own free will. **** So again- not suicide, but attempted murder. The only reason Chihiro told Haku- "It was either you or me" is because it was true; Yubaba waa going to kill one of them, and Chihiro was just glad it wasn't Haku. Anyway, please let me know what you think! **


	15. Chapter 15

***AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi everyone! I am so sorry it's taken me so long to update. I'm a senior in college and I work nights in an Emergency Room so I've been busy as heck! I really tried to do some cool things in this chapter, so I hope you all enjoy it. Everything may not make sense right now, but I promise you it will in the end. Please remember that whenever you see this - [...] - that means that the scene is changing. Also, be aware that there is a decent amount of blood in this chapter, NOT violence. This is all about trying to heal Sen's wound, so there is talk of blood and things like that, but there is no violence. Anyway, please enjoy! :)**

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Haku pushed his dragon form as hard as he could, forcing it to fly faster than it ever had before. The delicate scent of Chihiro's blood burned his sensitive nose as he followed its lingering trail through the sea that surrounded the Bath House for miles. The current had taken her, and Chihiro had drifted far in the short time that Haku had been with her in his ethereal form. The further he flew, the harder it became for him to breathe. What if he was too late? What if she bled out before he could reach her? Humans were so much frailer than spirits- something he often forgot. She could easily die while waiting for him to save her.

She could die before they even began their life together.

That thought sent him into overdrive, Haku forcibly blocking out everything other than the scent of her blood. He was going to find her, save her, and ensure that Yubaba would never have a chance to hurt his woman ever again.

The heartless witch who ruled the bath house would pay for her crime in blood, of that much Haku was certain.

...

Zeniba frowned, her feet hovering mere centimeters over the crystalline sea. She ran the pad of her index finger across the large red ruby on the neckline of her dress, "Sen should be here; my magic has never been wrong."

Noh-face gestured an ethereal black hand downward, "Ah, ah."

The witch looked down through the crashing waves beneath her and instantly found what she was looking for. A few feet beneath the surface floated Sen, unconscious and blood still pulsing generously from her abdomen. Zeniba dove headfirst into the water and scooped Sen into her arms. She knew that Sen was dying and there wasn't much time to fix what Yubaba had done. Although Zeniba had witness the circumstances of Sen's injury through her paper bird, she had no idea just what her twin sister had done to the metal that pierced Sen's abdomen until now. She had not realized that Yubaba had used a spell to enchant the sword. Now that she was physically touching her, the severity of Yubaba's spell became apparent.

That's why Sen kept bleeding- her sister's magic was purposely preventing any type of clotting.

Zeniba gripped Sen securely to her chest in an attempt to stem the flow of blood as much as she could, "Noh-face, wait here for Haku. When you find him, bring him to my home. I don't have time to wait; Sen is losing too much blood. It will be hard enough to save her as it is and if I wait for Haku, it may be too late."

Noh-face's perpetually neutral expression changed to a deep frown as he looked towards Sen. He nodded solemnly, "Ah."

The witch placed her index and middle finger against Sen's forehead gently and projected her magic into the unconscious human's mind, "If you can hear me sweetie, I want you to know that I will do everything in my power to save you. However if I am successful, I want you to let me plan your wedding in return. And _I_ get to give you away."

Zeniba then crushed Sen to her chest tightly and kicked off in the direction of Swamp Bottom.

Noh-face's sad expression changed into one of a slight smile. After Zeniba presented her conditions for saving Sen, he could have sworn he saw the human smirk.

...

_"Chihiro, please wake up," a familiar voice begged close by. She could feel someone take her hand and squeeze it tightly. "Please baby. We miss you so much."_

_ Sen's eyelids fluttered opened to the sight of rectangular fluorescent lights. She blinked a few times, confused. It took a few moments for her vision to adjust to the brightness, but when her eyes focused, she began to survey her surroundings. With increasing horror, she realized where she was._

_ A hospital room._

_ "Chihiro?!" Sen's father choked. "Oh my God, Yuuko! She's awake!"_

_ Sen could hear her mother throw something, and knowing her mother it was probably a book, onto a table and then lunge onto the hospital bed, "Chihiro!" She sobbed through a smile of relief. "Your father and I were so worried about you! Oh I can't believe you're really awake! We were worried you would never wake up."_

_ "M… mom? Dad?" Her voice was cracked and weak. "What happened?"_

_ Her father squeezed her hand again, "You don't remember? The owners of a small apartment complex found you unconscious on the bank of a small stream on their property. You must have been trying to cross the small stream when you caught your sandal on one of the tree roots and fell. The doctors think you hit your head pretty hard on the rocks. When the complex owners found you, you were bleeding pretty badly from a gash in your forehead. After they called an ambulance, they found our contact information in your cell phone and called us. You've been here ever since."_

_ She then noticed the thick white fluff that covered the windowsill outside of her hospital window, "H… how long as it been since then?"_

_ Her mother pushed a lock of stray hair from Sen's eyes, "It's been 6 months, sweetie."_

_ Sen shot upright, the abrupt motion yanking wires off her body and from her nose, "6 months?! Th-that can't be right! I was… I was…"_

_ "You were what, Chihiro?" Her father asked, confused._

I was in the Spirit World_, she thought to herself in disbelief. _I was living in the Bath House with Haku and Rin. I was home.

_Sen felt a few solitary tears drip from her eyes. Was it all a dream? Was her entire experience in the Spirit World all a product of her being in some sort of coma for the last 6 months?_

_ "Oh honey," her mother cooed, stroking her hair affectionately. "I know it must be hard to take all of this in when you just woke up after so long. Why don't we see if we can get the doctor to evaluate you to make sure you're well enough to go home? I'm sure you'll feel better once you're out of this hospital. You can stay with us for as long as you need to recover."_

_ Sen slumped back into the hospital bed, mind still reeling. Everything in the Spirit World had seemed so real… she was certain it hadn't been just a figment of her imagination; even she wasn't _that _creative. Besides, after 13 years of only having dreams of Haku to cling to, Sen was sure that she could tell the difference between those and reality. There was no logical way that Sen had just been in a coma for 6 months. It was simply not possible. Just as her parents left the room, she pulled the bed sheet over her head and pushed up her thin hospital gown to expose her abdomen. _

_Above her bellybutton was a raised, dark brown scar the exact width of a katana blade._

_She ran her fingers over the scar a few times before noticing the glittering purple hair-band around her wrist._

...

Bowls upon bowls of medicinal herbs completely encompassed every free, stable surface that inhabited Zeniba's home. Though the chance that any of those herbs would be effective at actually nullifying Yubaba's spell was minimal to none, it was still important to use them in order to stave off infection. Zeniba had to keep reminding herself that humans were much more susceptible to death from simple things like that.

The witch flicked her wrist at a small wooden chest next to the door. A clean white sheet floated from the chest and spread itself onto the long wooden table that sat in the middle of her central room. Zeniba carefully removed Sen's bloody kimono and tossed it carelessly onto the floor behind them before setting the human gently on the table.

Finally observing the full extent of Sen's freely bleeding wound, Zeniba sighed, "This is not going to be easy." She snapped her fingers, the small golden seal materializing from thin air and dropping into her open palm. Zeniba then held the seal above Sen's abdomen and closed her eyes. "Seal of my father and all those before him, I humbly ask to use your power."

The golden seal erected itself in midair, hovering inches above the seemingly endless stream of blood pulsing from Sen's wound. It then began to spin, slowly at first but increasing in speed with each additional rotation until it was a golden blur. The magic seeping from the seal was so strong that the atmosphere in the small room became charged. The lights dimmed and flickered as ancient magic crackled around Zeniba in response to her request.

Zeniba gave a small bow of respect before extending her arms with her palms facing the seal. She bowed her head, keeping her eyes closed, "Golden seal, I humbly ask that you show me the full damage that has been done to this human girl. I ask this with the intention to save her life."

The seal continued to spin as a bright white light came forth from the bottom. The light, while always attached to the seal, extended towards Sen- simultaneously taking the shape of an arm. As the ghostly arm came closer to the bleeding wound, it sprouted 5 long fingers. The air around Zeniba began to hum and buzz as the seal's magic grew stronger and stronger.

All at once, the ghostly hand plunged itself into Sen's abdomen, Zeniba's head snapped back, and every window in the front room of the cottage shattered.

...

_Sen woke up screaming._

_Her heart pounded furiously within her chest as beads of sweat ran down her temples. She threw her blankets back and frantically pushed her tank top above the level of her scar. The previously raised, dark brown scar was now extremely red and puckered. Instead of looking like something that had healed long ago, the area now appeared to still be in the early stages of healing._

_The most frightening part was that it had felt like someone was inside of her body._

_Moments later, Sen's parents came bursting into her childhood room in their pajamas. Her mother shoved a mass of disheveled hair from her face as her father surveyed the dark room with ever-suspicious eyes, "What's the matter, Chihiro? Is someone in here?" He demanded, his usually kind voice now steely and full of parental authority._

_Sen fell back against her pillow, tactfully pulling the blanket over her exposed abdomen, "I'm sorry," she huffed, still breathless from hyperventilating in her sleep. "I must have been having a nightmare. I'm fine now, I promise."_

_Her parents exchanged wary looks before turning back to her. "Are you sure, sweetheart? Do you want me to turn your TV on for you so you aren't in the dark?" Her mother asked, eyes full of concern._

_She forced a half-hearted smile, "I'm ok, Mom. You guys go on back to bed. If I have trouble falling back asleep, I'll turn it on."_

_They both remained in the doorway for a few seconds as if trying to decide whether or not she was really alright before her father reached for the shoji, "We are right down the hall if you need us, Chihiro."_

"_Thanks Dad. I love you."_

_He smiled crookedly, "I love you too, pumpkin. Goodnight."_

_Once the shoji to her room was slid shut, Sen wrapped her arms around her torso and let out a shaky breath, "What's happening to me?" She could still feel something unnatural happening within her body as her scar continued to throb and burn. Tears leaked from her eyes and slid down her temples into her hair. _

_Sen bit her lip violently, breaking the skin. She could feel the hysterical sobs building in her chest, "Where are you, Haku? You promised you would save me!"_

_As she silently cried herself to sleep, Sen could have sworn she smelled Granny Zeniba's floral perfume._

...

The moment that the seal's ghostly hand delved into Sen's abdomen, Zeniba became blind to the physical world. Instead of seeing the wooden beams that supported the ceiling of her cottage, the witch was seeing the inside of Sen's wound as if she were in there herself. The enchanted katana not only cut straight through her skin, fat, and muscle layers, but it had perforated her small intestine and numerous blood vessels as well. As the ghostly hand moved around inside the wound, Zeniba's point of view shifted as well. Something caught the golden seal's attention and Zeniba felt a painfully strong surge of her father's magic. As the magic soaked into Sen's wound, it clung to the edges of her torn flesh relentlessly. Zeniba could see that the seal alone was not strong enough to reveal whatever had been hidden in this place, so she silently commanded her own power to aid it. Thick waves of magic burst forth from the large ruby on her dress's neckline and quickly made its way inside the gash.

When her magic melded with her father's, it was like a fog was lifted from her vision. Suddenly, Zeniba could see the remnants of her sister's enchantment- tiny black gastropods, similar to Yubaba's control slugs, were gnawing away at the edges of Sen's torn flesh in order to prevent any sort of clotting or healing. Realizing they could be seen, the gastropods stopped chewing long enough to simultaneously look up at the ghostly hand.

"We have to get them out of her," Zeniba managed, her voice barely audible.

"With our combined power, we can remove them and the spell they carry," the seal replied in her father's voice. "However, I sense that something else is at work here. Something we cannot repair."

Beads of sweat trickled down the witch's forehead as she exerted more strength in order to speak again, "Let us do what we can. I will figure out the rest once I know she will live."

She could feel the seal's consent. Her father's voice resounded throughout the small room, "Then let us begin."

...

_There was a gentle knock on the shoji to her bedroom, "Chihiro?" _

_ Sen stared unfocused at the television, "You can come in, mom."_

_ Her mother slid the door open softly, "Good morning, sweetie. How are you feeling?"_

_ "Better," she lied. "Thanks."_

_ "I'm so glad. When you refused to leave your room these past few days, your father and I started to worry. Are you certain you feel well enough to be here alone? I can always call off of work again if you need someone to__—__"_

_ Sen forced a smile, "Mom, please. I'm 23 years old. You can go to work without worrying about me. I will be fine by myself."_

_ "Yuuko, it's 8:45. You'll be be late for work if we don't get going!" Sen's father called from the bottom of the stairs._

_ "You go on, Akio," her mother called back. "I'll take the train today. I just need to finish getting ready." As soon as they heard Sen's father close the front door behind himself, she came into the room and sat on Sen's futon. "I was trying to let it go, but it's been nagging at me for months. I just need to understand what you were thinking, Chihiro."_

_ Sen's pulse quickened, "M-mom?"_

_ It was then that Sen noticed her mother holding something small and rectangular in her hands. Yuuko looked down at the rectangle, "Why did you go back there?"_

_ "Mom, I__—"_

_ When she looked up, there were tears in her eyes, "This is the second time we have almost lost you at that river. Don't you think that means something, Chihiro? Don't you think the Gods are trying to tell you to stay away from that river?"_

_ "It's not as simple as all that," Sen replied quietly, pulling her knees into her chest. "I can't just stay away from him."_

_ "Him?"_

_ "I-I meant there. I can't just stay away from there. Things are a lot more complicated than that."_

_ Her mother cupped her face, "Chihiro, honey, I need you to tell me what's going on. I need to understand."_

_ Sen inconspicuously fingered the puckered scar on her abdomen, "I'm afraid that you wouldn't believe me if I told you the truth."_

_ "Try me, Chihiro," Yuuko's deep hickory eyes were full of steely determination._

_ She fidgeted for a moment, conflicted. Her mother was much too observant for her own good. If she told her mother everything about her time in the Spirit World, there was every chance that her mother would have her institutionalized. But something in her gut told her that if she didn't tell her mother everything, she would never see the Spirit World again._

_ "Chihiro," her mother coaxed, "you can tell me anything. And if you don't want your father to know, I won't say anything to him."_

_Sen let out a deep breath, her decision made, "You'll need to take a personal day. I want to show you something."_

...

"Zeniba?! Chihiro?!" Haku burst through the front door of the small cottage, his hair and kimono disheveled and Noh-face on his heels.

The sight that greeted him was horrific. Blood-soaked sheets and glass littered the floor and the lights flickered and hummed as if they were going to burn out at any moment. Chihiro was lying on the long wooden table completely unconscious and covered in blood while Zeniba stood next to her with her arms outstretched. Upon closer inspection, Haku could see Zeniba's golden seal hovering above Chihiro and a ghostly white arm extending from the seal into the almost-healed gash. When he came closer to Zeniba, it was clear that she was struggling. She was staring at Chihiro with unseeing, glassy eyes and her teeth were clamped together so hard that the muscles in her jaw were twitching. Every few seconds, Zeniba's extended fingers would spasm, almost like they did when she used her magic.

Noh-face observed Zeniba for a moment before turning to Haku, "Ah, ah."

"What is it?" Haku asked quietly, unable to tear his eyes away from Chihiro's lifeless form.

Noh-face pointed to Zeniba's ruby, then to the golden seal, then to Haku, "Ah."

Knowing that Zeniba's ruby was where she stored her main source of power, the pieces started to come together in Haku's mind, "Zeniba is using her magic and the magic from her seal to heal Chihiro, but she's still struggling to finish. Are you saying I can lend them my power as well to make it easier?"

The spirit nodded, "Ah, ah."

Unsure of exactly what to do, Haku made his way to the side of the table opposite Zeniba and extended his arms towards the seal in the same fashion. He closed his eyes and summoned his inner dragon as close to the surface as he could without actually shape-shifting. "I am Nigihayami Kohaku Nushii," he muttered under his breath. "I am the God of the Swift Amber River, and I command all of the magic I hold authority over to lend itself to this seal."

Haku felt a sharp surge of power immediately followed by crippling exhaustion. He grit his teeth, forcing himself not to collapse as the slightest unprovoked movement could break the magical connection between the three of them. The sheer force of his fundamental magic leaving his body threatened to bring him to his knees, but Haku resisted. After all, this wasn't about him. This was about saving the woman he loved.

Across the table, Haku heard Zeniba's breathing instantly ease. A few minutes later, he heard Noh-face, "Ah! Ah!"

All at once- the golden seal dropped to the table, Haku dropped to his knees, and Zeniba stumbled forward, clutching the edge of the table for support. Haku and Zeniba were both gasping, breathless from receiving all of their magic back at one time.

"Thank you, Haku," Zeniba panted. "Your power… was the last boost we needed to… finish repairing Sen."

Haku's head snapped up, sea-foam green hair sticking to the sheen of sweat on his face, "Is she… is she alright?"

The witch was silent.

Haku gripped the table and pulled himself up, his legs quivering. "Zeniba, please… answer me."

She grabbed her golden seal and slipping it into a fold in her large blue dress, sighing, "Her body is repaired, but she lost a lot of blood. She needs a transfusion."

"A transfusion?" Haku frowned. "What is that?"

Zeniba flicked her wrist towards a chair when it slid up behind her, she practically collapsed onto it, waving her hand weakly towards her tousled bun in order to fix it, "When humans lose too much blood, their bodies are unable to function and they eventually die. Sen needs new blood to replace what she lost. Otherwise…"

His shoulders slumped as he looked towards Chihiro's face, tears glistening in his bottomless jade eyes, "How do we get the blood inside of her?"

"Don't worry about that; I know how to do it. We just need someone to give her the blood."

Haku's spine stiffened, "Let me do it. Give her my blood."

"Don't be ridiculous, Haku," Zeniba scoffed. "Your blood is much too powerful for a human to handle; it would almost certainly kill her. No, we need someone who has little to no magic in their blood. Sen could handle that."

"Little to no magic…" He thought for a moment before his eyes lit up. "Rin!"

"Who?"

Haku looked back to Chihiro, relief flooding his heart when he saw her chest rise and fall but sadness overtaking it when he noticed how pale she was beneath all the dried blood, "Rin is Chihiro's closest friend in the Bath House. She's a weasel spirit and I don't believe she has any magic in her blood at all. And I know she would do anything to help Chihiro."

Zeniba nodded, "That is the exact kind of spirit we need. Go to the Bath House as quickly as you can and bring her back here. I left a small amount of my magic inside of Sen's wound to keep her alive until we can get her blood, but that won't last forever. We need to give her a transfusion as quickly as possible."

Limbs still shaking, Haku stumbled towards the door before the witch stopped him, "Haku, don't be silly. You are completely exhausted from lending me your power; do you really believe you will be able to summon your dragon form in this state?"

He gripped the back of her chair for support, "I will not give up so long as Chihiro needs me. I failed her for 13 years Zeniba, and I will never fail her again."

She smiled, "Of course you won't. I was simply suggesting that you borrow my golden seal so you have the energy you need to transform and make it back with someone on your back."

Haku's eyes widened, "You… you would trust me with your seal? After I tried to steal it from you?"

Zeniba reached into the fold in her dress and pulled out the seal, dropping it into his palm, "You are an honorable man, Haku. I trust you with this seal because Sen's life depends on it and I know that you would go to the ends of the realm for her. Now take my seal and retrieve Rin so we can finish this."

He gripped the seal tightly, feeling an instant rush of power. His dragon was clawing within him, desperate to be released in order to save its mate, "I will be back as quickly as I can."

Seconds after he disappeared out the door of the cottage, a deafening dragon's roar shook the foundation of the house as it flew overhead.

...

Zeniba wove her hands intricately around the cottage, invisible magic repairing the shattered windows and putting everything back in its place. She waved her hands towards the chest again, and this time a small piece of cloth floated towards her. After dipping the cloth in a small bucket of cool water, Zeniba proceeded to wash all of the dried blood from Sen's unmoving body.

Noh-face silently shuffled to her side, observing Sen. His vacant expression turned to a frown, "Ah, ah?"

The witch sighed, "So you noticed that, did you? There was only so much my seal and I could accomplish here. Whatever enchantment my sister used on that katana, it doesn't end at the actual wound. We removed as much of the spell as we could see, but there is clearly more to it than that; thankfully Haku was just too exhausted to notice it. I… I didn't lie to Haku when I told him that Sen would die without a blood transfusion, I just…"

"Ah?" Noh-face coaxed, his ethereal hand on her shoulder.

For the first time in 500 years, tears welled in Zeniba's eyes, "I just didn't mention that even if she gets one and lives… she won't wake up."

The Noh mask contorted into a pained expression, "Ah…" Noh-face shook his head in disbelief and denial. "Ah. Ah. Ah."

She gently brushed Sen's hair back from her face, "No, Noh-face. I'm not lying. After the transfusion, we will have done everything we can. After that… it will be up to Sen to come back to us. Yubaba made sure of that."

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***AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please let me know what you think! :D**


	16. Chapter 16

***AUTHOR'S NOTE: To everyone who has stuck with me this long, I greatly appreciate it. My life has completely changed in the last 6 months, so I've been trying to get myself back on track. But I'm finally in a healthy place again and I'm ready to start writing some more. I really want to finish this story, so I plan to put my all into it now. Thanks so much for all your patience, please enjoy!**

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…

"_Chihiro, where are we going?" Yuuko asked for the third time. As they drove down a frozen dirt road that was sheltered from daylight by a thick canopy of foliage and snow, Sen noticed her mother's grip tighten on her purse. "Where _are_ we?"_

_ Sen chewed her bottom lip nervously, her heart pounding a chaotic tattoo beneath her ribcage, "We're almost there, mom. It's only a little further."_

_ Moments later, the car emerged from the ominous shelter of the trees and into the almost blinding white light of the winter's day. Sen stopped the car directly in front of a cracked, egg-shaped stone statue. There was a light dusting of snow on the very top of the statue's head, but it was otherwise entirely visible. The building behind the statue was once a beautiful cherry red, but the years and weather had chipped and worn the paint, leaving it looking run-down and eerie. Sen turned off the car and turned to her mother in time to see the look of recognition dawn on her face as she realized where they were._

_ "This is the entrance to that out-of-commission amusement park… we stopped here when you were just a little girl… when we were moving, right?" Yuuko furrowed her brow softly. "Why are we here, Chihiro? It's been 13 years since then."_

_ Sen buttoned her thick winter coat and wrapped a dark blue scarf around her neck, "Come on," she opened her door, ushering her mother to do the same. "I want to tell you everything."_

…

Haku could feel that his body was exhausted, both physically and magically. As he flew across the night sky towards the Bath House, the only thing keeping him from reverting back to his spirit form was Zeniba's golden seal and the image of Chihiro lying lifeless on Zeniba's table. The thought of Chihiro brought a deep, menacing rumble to his chest. She was only hurt because of Yubaba.

_Yubaba_.

Haku roared fiercely, ignoring the mind-numbing fatigue it brought to his aching muscles. For now, he would do as Zeniba asked and bring Rin back to Swamp Bottom for the transfusion. But as soon as he knew Chihiro would be alright, Haku would have to pay Yubaba a well-deserved visit.

Up ahead, Haku could finally start to see the green pagodas of the Bath House.

…

_ Yuuko stared blankly at her daughter, her mouth slightly agape. She'd been this way for at least 10 minutes now; silent, unblinking, and completely frozen as if she were frozen in place. Sen thought that her mother might react this way after learning of the Spirit World and everything in it, she had even expected her mother to call her crazy and maybe even get angry, but she now she was getting concerned because her mother wasn't saying anything at all._

_ Sen touched her mother's hand gently, "Are you okay?"_

_ Her mother inhaled the cold winter air a few times like she was preparing to speak, but each time she would simply revert back to her frozen state._

_ "Mom, talk to me. Say something… anything."_

_ "I… I don't even know where to begin," she managed, her voice faint._

_ "You could tell me if you believe me, or if you think I'm totally insane. That would probably be a good place to start."_

_ Yuuko finally moved, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger, "Chihiro, sweetheart… what you're telling me… what you're saying… it's completely illogical! It doesn't make sense. You were in a coma for 6 long months, Chihiro. I sat at your bedside… I held your hand! I was there with you every single day that you were unconscious. How can you sit there and tell me that you were somewhere else? I was _there_, Chihiro. I _saw_ you."_

_ "Mom," Sen looked towards the Spirit Gate, her heart aching as snow clung to the chipped red paint, "beyond this building, there is an entirely different world. A world that you and Dad don't remember. And since that world is inhabited entirely by spirits, don't you think it's possible that when I went there, my physical body stayed behind? I wasn't in a coma, mom. I was in the Bath House. I was with Haku."_

_ "Haku," Yuuko repeated. "The river spirit who doubles as a dragon. Your boyfriend."_

_ Sen could hear the disbelief and incredulity in her mother's voice, "What do I have to do to make you believe me?"_

_ Her mother sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time, "I don't know, Chihiro. I really don't know."_

_ "I didn't want to do this…" Sen unbuttoned her heavy coat. "But now it looks like I don't have a choice. Tell me something, mom. My entire life, other than when I fell into the Kohaku River, have I ever gotten hurt?"_

_ "What do you mean?"_

_ "Have I ever been injured to the point of being scarred? Do you remember a time when I had to get stitches?"_

_ Her mother thought hard for a moment, "No… I don't think so. You were always a very rambunctious child, but you never really got hurt. I don't think I can remember you ever getting a single scar."_

_ "And when I was in the hospital, did I have any type of surgery?"_

_ Yuuko shook her head, "No. You've never had any surgery."_

_ Sen took a deep breath before pushing up her shirt to reveal the pink puckered scar on her abdomen, "Then where did I get this?"_

_ Her mother gasped and reached out to touch the healing wound, "Oh, my g— What on earth _happened _to you, Chihiro?! It looks like it's still healing!"_

_ "I had an accident when I was in the Spirit World, mom. And after it happened, I fell into an ocean and drifted for a long time while I bled out. Eventually Haku realized I was gone and he told me he was coming to get me. That's the last thing I remember before I woke up in the hospital. It still _hurts_, mom. I can still feel what happened to me. If I didn't have any surgery when I was in the hospital, then where did I get this?"_

_ There were tears sparkling in the corners of her mother's eyes, "I… I don't know."_

_ Sen buttoned her coat again and grabbed her mother's hands, "Please, mom. You _know_ me. You know I'm not a liar. You know I'm not prone to spinning wild tales of fantasy just for attention. I wouldn't make this up, mom. It's all true."_

_ Yuuko stared into her daughter's eyes for a long time before she finally spoke again, "Okay, Chihiro. Hypothetically, let's say I believed you. What then?"_

_ "What do you mean?"_

_ "Well," her mother turned back to the Spirit Gate, "if this is all true, then what are you going to do? Growing up in a shrine, I read my fair share of myths and legends. And in every one where there is more than one 'realm', the person can't live in both. If what you've told me is true Chihiro, then you can't live in the Spirit World and also live here. So if there really is another world beyond this gate, then which one are you going to choose to live in?"_

_ Sen felt her chest tighten painfully. That was a question that she still didn't have an answer to. And now she was out of time._

_ "I don't know, mom... I don't know what to do."_

…

Haku landed softly on the balcony outside of the room where Rin, Chihiro, and most of the other Bath House attendant girls slept. He quickly shifted back to his spirit form and pressed his ear to the shoji for a moment to see if he could hear anyone in the room. When he didn't hear anyone, he growled impatiently. Rin usually ate dinner on the balcony and her shift at the baths should have been over by now. Haku paced across the balcony anxiously for a few moments before he heard someone come up the stairs that led to the bedroom.

"Ugh. Stupid, ungrateful spirits. I swear, you would think some of them were raised in a damn swamp! No manners in this place anymore, it's a disgrace!"

There were a few moments of things being tossed around carelessly in the room before the shoji slammed open and Rin came storming out onto the balcony with a meat bun in her mouth. She was getting ready to sit when Haku shut the shoji behind her.

"Ahhh!" Rin shouted, dropping her bun over the railing and into the ocean. When she noticed it was Haku behind her, a deep scowl came to her face. "Damn it, Haku! You scared the crap outta me! What the hell are you doing, hiding out here? Shouldn't you be with Sen? I heard she's been sick all day and instead of taking care of her, you're out here doing God knows wha—"

Haku slumped against the shoji, gripping Zeniba's golden seal tightly in his left hand. The constant shifting back and forth exhausted him but by holding Zeniba's seal, he was able to absorb small amounts of her magic to keep himself going.

It was then that Rin noticed just how awful Haku looked, "Haku, are you okay? You look like hell. Is something wrong?"

"Chihiro…" He panted, gripping the seal so tight his skin was stretched taught over the knuckles. "She is not sick. She's hurt, but it's a long story and we do not have the time right now for me to explain. Zeniba sent me to get you because Chihiro needs blood or she will die. We need you because my blood has too much magic in it and it would most likely kill her. Will you come with me?"

Rin looked horrified, "She could _die_?! What happened to—"

"Rin, please. I will explain everything on the way, but first I need to know you will help us. We can't save her without you and we are running out of time."

"Of course I'll help! I don't know what I would do if Sen… if she…" Rin stopped, choking back the last unfathomable word. "Yes. Yes, I'll help. Just tell me what I need to do."

With that, Haku summoned all of the remaining magic within the seal to call forth his inner dragon. As the edges of his body began to blur and he began to shift, he managed two more words.

"Get on."

…

_ Snow continued to fall on them, the powder soft flakes landing in their hair before quickly melting away. Yuuko was standing now, running her hands across the worn Spirit Gate. Everywhere she touched, the white flakes simply fell away, revealing the cracked red paint. It was completely silent in this place, the only sounds coming from their breathing and the snow crunching under Yuuko's feet as she moved. Sen let her mother examine the gate as she leaned against the egg-shaped stone statue. She didn't even notice how cold and wet her legs were from sitting in the snow for so long. Right now, she could think of nothing other than the impossible choice she had to make._

_ Two worlds- each held people she loved deeply and couldn't imagine her life without._

_ How could she possibly ever choose?_

_ "You said that this gate doesn't always work, right? Why do you think that is?"Her mother paused for a moment before adding, "Hypothetically, of course."_

_ "I'm not really sure," she replied mechanically, still staring blankly ahead. "I asked Haku about it once, when I was little. I asked him why I was the first human they had ever seen, why humans didn't accidentally find their world all the time. He told me that he wasn't sure, but he thought that the Spirit Gate was only open at certain times of the year. He also thought there might be some type of spell on the gate to keep it hidden. But it seems like no one really knows."_

_ "So if we were to pass through right now, what would happen?"_

_ She shrugged, "I don't know. The Spirit World may be there, and it may not. And even if it was there, I don't know how coming back works. If we tried and were successful, you could be stuck there. When I was little, I'm pretty sure I was stuck there until my contract was terminated. But if you don't have a contract to work at the Bath House, I'm not sure if the gate would let you come back."_

_ Yuuko simply stood at the entrance and stared into it, unmoving._

_ "Why does it sound like you're starting to believe me, mom?"_

_ Her mother turned to face her, "The more you talk about it, the more real it seems. And the more I let it all sink in, the more believable it becomes. I'm a rational woman honey, but I do know that there are things in this life that we will never be able to fully understand. I know that there are things in life we can't explain, either. I know I was skeptical at first, but you're my daughter and I know you well enough to know when you're lying and when you're not." She sat down next to her daughter and grabbed her hand, still looking at the gate. "And right now, you're not."_

_ Sen squeezed her mother's hand and put her head on her shoulder, "I'm so glad you believe me. I was scared I would never get the chance to tell you everything and you would think I just disappeared without a word."_

_ "I'm glad you told me, Chihiro. But now you have to decide- what are you going to do? If this gate is as temperamental as Haku thinks it is, I have a feeling it won't wait forever for you to make up your mind." _

_ Sen chewed her bottom lip anxiously, "When I was in the Spirit World, I kept wondering how it would work. I kept wondering how things would end here if I chose to stay there. I never thought I would see you or dad again, and it made me so heartbroken. But now… now I don't know! I love Haku, mom. I love him more than I knew I could love someone. I want to spend the rest of my life with him, even if that life is a short one. But the thought of actually leaving you and dad forever… never seeing either of you ever again… I just don't know if I can do it." Tears dripped onto her mother's shoulder. "But I waited for Haku for 13 years. And for the entirety of those years, I never felt whole without him. When I saw him again at the Bath House, even though I didn't remember him at that time, it felt right. I felt like I belonged there. I felt like I was home."_

_ Yuuko sighed, resting her head on Sen's,"Chihiro, you know your father and I love you. We always will. If that place is real... if that man is real and you love him like you say you do, then staying here would be a mistake and we both know it. Your father and I had you for 23 years, and chances are that if things were normal, you would be getting married and moving away someday soon regardless. So I want you to really think about this, Chihiro- you said you waited for Haku for 13 years. You said all you had to cling to were the dreams of him, even though you never knew it was him. Is that what you want for the rest of your life? To be clinging to dreams and memories? Or would you rather be by his side?"_

_ Sen knew exactly what she really wanted; she wanted whatever world had Haku. She may not have known that the river in her dreams had been him for 13 years, but she had still felt a deep, gouging loneliness whenever she was awake. She had only ever felt happy when she was with the river._

_ And a lifetime more of only dreams of Haku was more than she could bear._

…

" I always knew that Yubaba was cruel, but I didn't think she had it in her to actually try to kill someone! Especially Sen!" Rin managed, still in shock from everything Haku had told her.

Haku retied the sash of his kimono quickly, "I was just as shocked as you are. I knew Yubaba was planning to do something to Chihiro to punish us for what we did 13 years ago, but I never thought she would take it this far." There was a growl rumbling deep in Haku's chest. "And Yubaba _will_ pay for this."

"Before we start plotting revenge, might we save Sen's life first?" A raspy voice called from the door of the cottage.

"Zeniba! How is she? Has there been any change?" Haku demanded, his voice commanding yet desperate.

"Luckily, no. She is still unconscious. Is this the weasel spirit you told me about?" Zeniba asked, stretching her neck to see behind Haku. "Don't be afraid, child. I am not my sister."

Rin hesitated for a moment before making her way to Zeniba, "You can save Sen, right? If we give her my blood, she'll be okay, right?"

The witch paused for a moment, "It's not quite that simple but that is the general idea, yes. Sen needs blood to recover, or she will undoubtedly die. But once we give her the blood, it will ultimately be up to Sen to return to us."

"Wait, wait, wait. What are you saying?" Haku could feel the panic welling in his chest. "Zeniba, you said that if I brought Rin here, Chihiro could get the transfusion and she would be fine. That is what you told me. You _said_ she would be fine if we gave her blood. What do you _mean_ it will be up to her to come back?"

"Haku, please. Why don't you both come inside and we can discuss everything," Zeniba pushed the door open a little more so there was room for everyone to fit through it. "But we are quickly running out of time."

With a determined look on her face, Rin nodded and marched through the door. Haku stood outside the cottage for another moment, his eyes searing with pain, "What's happening to her, Zeniba?"

The witch pulled Haku into a gentle embrace, "Listen to me. You need to be strong now, Haku. Yubaba may not be as powerful as I am, but she's angry. And anger has a way of weaving itself into magic. What Yubaba has done here won't be easy to undo; I can't even see all the magic she's left in that poor girl," she pulled away and looked into Haku's eyes. "I promise you that I will do everything within my power to save her life, Haku. But it really is up to Sen on whether or not she will wake up. I don't know what Yubaba did, but she made sure that there is nothing we can do to bring her back to consciousness. I know it's not what you wanted to hear, but it's the truth. So if you lose control now, if you break down, you will be of no use to anyone, especially Sen. Do you understand me?"

Haku clenched his trembling fists and looked away for a moment before sighing, "Alright, Zeniba. Tell me what I need to do to help Chihiro."

"Come inside, Haku. We need to get started."

…

…

…

***AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please let me know what you think and thank you so much for reading!**


	17. Chapter 17

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** **Be prepared for some serious feels, guys. I cried writing some of it, so I can only imagine how you all will feel!**

…

…

…

"And this," Zeniba held up a long, thin, clear tube tipped with a thin hollow needle, "is what I will use to extract your blood. I have another one for Sen as well, so we can get your blood into her. Yours will go into your wrist and hers will enter at her elbow. Your blood will go into this glass bottle," the witch motioned towards the bottle, "before it goes into Sen."

Rin chewed her lip nervously, "And humans do this all the time, you say? It doesn't seem super… safe."

"Well, I don't have the most modern human medical equipment," Zeniba admitted, "but I know how to use what few items I was able to get my hands on. Also, I'm fairly certain my magic will be able to help and ward off any typical complications or issues one might usually face during a transfusion in the human world. We certainly won't have to worry about infection or blood type compatibility. We also won't have to worry about the fact that we don't have all the equipment humans generally need; my magic will make up for whatever we lack, I'm sure of it."

"Will it hurt?"

The witch shook her head, "Not at all. I'll make sure to numb you completely."

"No, not me," Rin frowned, looking towards the table where her friend remained unconscious and unmoving. "Will it hurt Sen?"

Zeniba lowered her voice to keep Haku from possibly overhearing, "I don't think so. With her current state… I'm not sure if Sen can feel anything."

Tears formed in the corners of the weasel spirit's large onyx eyes. Her voice, though only a whisper, was clearly cracking as she spoke, "We have to save her, Zeniba. We can't let her die like this."

She closed her eyes briefly as she gently rubbed Rin's inner elbow, her heart aching in her chest, "I will do everything I possibly can to save her life… I just hope it's enough."

…

**6 months later**

…

_"Sen, would you please help your mother with the dishes?"Akio called to the top of the stairs._

_ "Yeah, be right there!" Sen replied, finishing up the last details of the dragon's mane she was sketching. She set down her pencil and pushed away from her desk. When she reached her bedroom door, she stopped and turned back to the drawing. Of course, it was a picture of Haku…that was the only thing she drew these days. _

_ He didn't come to her in her dreams anymore, so this was the only way she could see him now._

_ Unwilling to let the deep, unrelenting agony of missing Haku consume her, Sen took a deep breath to compose herself before she made her way down the stairs. Besides, she would have plenty of time to break down and cry herself to sleep when her parents went to bed._

_ During the six long months that she'd been avoiding making a concrete decision on which world to leave behind, Sen had developed a talent for falling apart at night and being a perfectly functioning person during the day._

_ Sen knew she had to make a decision soon, but she still wasn't ready._

_ She didn't know if she ever would be._

…

"Has there been any change?"

Zeniba frowned, eyeing Haku over her tiny round spectacles as he entered her home in his now typical fashion. Every day for the past six months, he came to her and asked if there had been any change with Sen, and every day for the past six months, she gave him the same answer: "Nothing yet, but give it time."

Haku knelt next to the large bed where Chihiro resided and grabbed her delicate hand, pressing it against his forehead. He was so tired of Zeniba giving him the same answer every day. His heart was breaking more and more with each passing day that he was forced to sit at this bedside and do nothing. He was sick of it all.

"How much more time can we afford, Zeniba? Chihiro's been unconscious for six months… she has not so much as twitched in all that time! How do we even know if she can still come back? How do we know it's not too late?"

The witch sighed, setting down her knitting, "Haku, I know you're frustrated but—"

Unable to suppress it, Haku let out a deep snarl that resonated deep within his chest, "I am more than frustrated! Do you not understand that every day for six months, I have come to this house and held Chihiro's hand? Every day for six months, I have come to his house and fallen asleep next to her, holding her in my arms, desperately hoping that when I wake up, she will open her eyes. Every day for six months, I have felt her slip further and further from me so I hold her a little tighter at night in a desperate attempt to keep her here. How could you _possibly_ know how I feel?" Haku squeezed his eyes shut, tears threatening to betray him. "How could you know how it feels to be able to hold her, smell her, feel her, and yet know that she won't wake up? How could you know how it feels to go back to my room at the Bath House and feel the traces of her there? I waited for her for 13 years, never actually expecting to see her again. And when she came back, I realized just how much my love for her had grown. I waited for her memories to return, and when they did, I thought… I thought…" Tears spilled freely from his eyes now, leaving wet spots on the bedsheets below him. He gripped Chihiro's hand tighter, dropping his head onto her slowly moving chest. Gentle sobs replaced the snarl in Haku's chest. "How long do I have to watch her like this, Zeniba? I can see her, touch her, kiss her… but she won't wake up. Her physical body is right here with me, but I don't know where her spirit is. Yubaba succeeded in finding a torture for me worse than any physical pain anyone could ever put me through."

Haku pressed his lips to Chihiro's palm, tears moistening her hand, "Where are you, Chihiro?" He asked her quietly between sobs. "Why won't you come home? Please don't make me wait anymore."

Zeniba removed her spectacles and shook her head sadly, "I'm so sorry, Haku. I've done everything I can to heal her, but her body isn't the problem anymore. I just can't seem to reach whatever Yubaba did to her spirit. I tried, I swear I did, but Yubaba was so angry when she wove this magic that even with my father's seal, I can't undo it. I have no connection with her mind, so I can't reach her no matter how hard I try. If I could just tell her what's happening, that her body is still here, maybe she would realize that wherever she is isn't where she has to stay."

"Her… mind?" Haku repeated slowly, realization dawning on him. His head snapped up and he turned to Zeniba. "You said you have no connection with her mind, so you can't reach her. But… what about someone who _has_ a link with her? Could you use your father's seal to facilitate a connection?"

She thought for a moment, "I… I don't see why not. It would work if it were me trying to reach her, so it should work for someone else trying to do the same. Why? What are you thinking?"

For the first time in months, he felt something other than pain and hopelessness as he looked at Chihiro's serene face. He caressed her warm cheek with the backs of his long, slender fingers, his pulse quickening at the silkiness of her skin, "After she left the Spirit World all those years ago, I still wanted to see her. It may have been selfish of me, but I used my magic to reach out to her in her dreams. Almost every night for the majority of the 13 years she was gone, I visited her dreams in the form of my river. That's how I came to love her this way. I watched her grow up and I grew with her, and in that time we learned almost everything about each other. I never thought I would see her here again, so I tried to take advantage of the time I had with her. I wanted to remember every moment, every detail, so that when I was alone again, it would be bearable without her."

"Haku…" Zeniba's voice was barely above a whisper.

He gave a small smile as he remembered watching Chihiro grow from an awkward, bratty child into the smart, beautiful woman she'd become. Haku wiped his cheeks on the sleeve of his kimono and took a deep breath, the first vestiges of hope rekindling in his chest, "I was even able to keep visiting her dreams when she first came here, when she still had no memories of me." He turned back to Zeniba. "My point is: I think I could still reach her mind, with your help. With what Yubaba did to her, I am certain I could not reach her on my own, but with your golden seal, I think I could."

The witch hesitated for a moment, "I… I don't know, Haku… I'm just not sure if that's a good idea."

"What?" Haku set Chihiro's hand gently on the bed and went over to the table where Zeniba sat. He took the chair across from her, "You just said if you could reach her, you could tell her what was happening and maybe get her to come back. Why would it be any different if it was me?"

"While I can't deny that Sen would be more likely to return to us if it were you who reached her… what if she decides not to come back? Will you be able to let her go like that? Will you respect her decision and leave her be? Will you be able to come back here and let her body go, knowing there is no chance she will come back to this world? I may not know what magic Yubaba has used on Sen, but I do know that whatever Sen decides to do while in this state will be permanent. She will never be allowed to change her mind. Are you prepared for that?"

Haku extended his arm across the table and took Zeniba's withered hand in his, "I know it must be difficult for you to trust me with this after the way I've been acting the past few months. I know how I reacted today probably did not help any, either. But you have to understand, Zeniba, this is not about what I want anymore. At first, it was. When she first became like this, I wanted nothing more than to bring her back because I couldn't stand the thought of going on without her again; not after I had just gotten her back. And every once in a while, like today, I have moments of weakness where I become selfish and want her to come back to me because I love her. But in reality, while I would be overjoyed to have her wake up here with us, I would also understand if she chose not to. Of course I love her, and there will never be anyone else for me as long as I live. But right now, I can't stand the thought of Chihiro being trapped between two worlds because she will never be able to be whole or happy while she lingers in both. I don't know where her spirit is right now, but I'm willing to go find her and tell her that she has a choice. And if she chooses to not come back to the Spirit World, I will let her go. I will never stop loving her, but I will let her go."

A few tears glistened in Zeniba's eyes as she quickly cleared her throat. She slipped her hand from Haku's grasp and delved into one of the folds of her gaudy blue gown. After rummaging around for a moment, she extracted her father's golden seal from the fabric of her dress. She held the seal out to him, "I have no mental connection with Sen, so you will have to reach her on your own."

He took the little golden rectangle and gripped it tightly, "How do I utilize the magic in the seal?"

"You are tapping into my father's magic just by holding the seal in your hand. As long as you're holding it, you should be able to reach her the same way you always did."

Haku left the table and went back to the large bed that he had become all-too familiar with over the past six months. He sat on the edge of the bed and closed his eyes for a moment, sending a silent prayer to someone—anyone—for this to work. Then, as he did every night, Haku lied next to Chihiro and pulled the light blankets over them.

Zeniba shuffled towards the door that lead out of the main room of the house, "I'll give you some privacy," she said quietly, flicking her wrist towards the lights on the walls to put them out. Only the light from the fireplace remained as she closed the door behind her.

Once Zeniba was gone, Haku slipped his right arm underneath Chihiro and carefully pulled her close to his chest. He held her tightly against his body as he buried his face in her hair. "I will find you, Chihiro," he murmured softly into her ear as his eyes slipped closed. "I won't make you wait anymore."

…

_She smiled as the warm, crystalline water surrounded her. She ruffled her hair, reveling in the way the moonlight danced off the surface of the water above her. Was it possible to feel so complete when just moments ago, she was crying herself to sleep? Where did the hole in her chest go? Why wasn't she feeling the inexorable agony and loneliness that she felt every night? Where was her constant sense of anxiety and dread? Where was her anger and regret?_

_ In this place, it all seemed to melt away._

_ Chihiro couldn't remember the last time she felt like this; so happy, so free, so full of life. Why did she ever stop coming here? This place was her sanctuary, her refuge. It had been for 13 long years. Why would she ever stop coming here?_

_ Her eyes snapped open as she remembered why she hadn't been here in so long._

_ Immediately, her heartrate skyrocketed. She began to hyperventilate as she looked around and recognized the river she was in. Tears stung the corners of her eyes as the pain and regret viciously ripped through her chest, tearing her open again. She wrapped her arms around her chest, desperately trying to hold herself together as she fell into a full panic._

_ "Oh God, oh God, oh God," she repeated, shaking her head as her voice quivered. "No, no, no, no, no. Please, no. No, no. Please, I can't. I can't take this."_

_ "Chihiro?"_

_ Her eyes snapped open again and her heart seemed to stop. She would know that voice anywhere. She would know that voice in a sea of a million others. That voice was part of her very soul._

_ "H…Haku?" She managed, her voice cracked and broken. "Is… is that you?"_

_ The water swirled around her hair and limbs, "Of course it is, Chihiro. What's wrong? Why are you in so much pain? I can feel it. Please, talk to me."_

_ Chihiro broke, covering her face with her hands as she sobbed uncontrollably, "I… can't… be… here…I… can't…do…this…"_

_ "Chihiro, please," his voice became panicked as the water swirled around her in an attempt to comfort her. "Why are you so upset?"_

_ "This is a dream," she cried, doubling over, "and when I wake up, it will be even harder to keep going. This is a dream, but I will spend the next few months wishing it was real. I can't do it again. I can't."_

_ "This is not a dream, Chihiro," he soothed. "I'm really here. You're really here."_

_ "No," she continued to cry, shaking her head, "I haven't been to your river, your _real_ river, for so long. This is just another dream."_

_ "What do I have to do to make you believe me?" Haku's voice asked. "There must be something that never happened here when it was only a dream of yours. Tell me what I can do to make you believe me."_

_ Her voice was soft through the tears, "I never see you, the real you. I never see you in your spirit form."_

_ "Then open your eyes, Chihiro."_

_ Hesitantly, Chihiro opened her bleary eyes._

_ And saw Haku floating in front of her._

_ Her eyes widened just before she burst into tears again, "It _is_ you!" She threw herself into his arms and sobbed into the curve of his neck. "Haku! I never thought I would see you again! I can't believe you're really here."_

_ He wrapped his slender arms around her and buried his face into her hair, "You cannot possibly fathom how much I have missed you, Chihiro."_

_ "Where have you been?" She cried. "I kept thinking you would come for me. I thought you didn't want me anymore!"_

_ Haku laughed incredulously as he held her tight, "How could you possibly think I wouldn't want you? I have told you, Chihiro, you are everything to me. You are the only thing I ever wanted more than my name and my freedom. I've been waiting for you every day since..." But he stopped._

_ Chihiro pulled away to look at Haku, "Since what? Since I got hurt?"_

_ He gave a small nod._

_ She put a small hand on his seraphic face, her bottom lip still trembling, "You've been hurting every day, haven't you?"_

_ Haku didn't reply, he only bit his lip._

_ A few more tears leaked from her eyes, "I'm so sorry, Haku. I never wanted to hurt you, but Yubaba made this so hard for me..."_

_ He furrowed his brow, "Where did she send you? Where are you when you're not here?"_

_ Chihiro's eyes softened and became sad, "I'm at home with my parents."_

_ Haku exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers as he closed his eyes, "Of course. She wanted to give you an impossible choice."_

_ "Haku," Chihiro's voice was gentle as she pulled his hand from his face. Their eyes met. "Tell me about what's happening in the Spirit World. What have you been doing all this time?"_

_ "Chihiro…"_

_ "No, I want to know. Even if it hurts, I want to know," she pressed. "Please."_

_ He sighed, caressing her face with his fingertips, "I still have to fulfill certain obligations at the Bath House, but every free moment I have I spend with you. You are still at Zeniba's house. She made a bed for you, to keep you comfortable while you healed, but she made it big enough to fit us both at my request. She takes care of you while I work, making sure you are bathed and using magic to keep your body fed and healthy, but I am with you every night. You are… still completely unconscious. Regardless, the first thing I always do when I get there is come to your bedside and hold your hand. Sometimes I talk to you, sometimes I sit with you in silence. Sometimes I cry, sometimes I get angry. It depends on the day."_

_ Her eyes filled with tears again, but he wiped them away and continued in a hushed voice, "I sit with you until it gets dark, and then I sleep next to you. Sometimes I hold you close to me when I sleep, other times I can't bear to touch you because it hurts too much to know you won't wake up. When I get up in the morning, I make sure you are comfortable before I kiss you goodbye. Then I go back to the Bath House to work until I can return again."_

_ She buried her face into his chest, her voice cracking as her heart broke at the thought of Haku hurting because of her, "You've done this every day since I…?"_

_ Haku nodded, planting a kiss on the top of her head, "Yes. Every single day."_

_ Chihiro could feel the hot tears threatening to make an appearance again, "I love you, Haku. I never stopped loving you, not once. I always knew I wanted to come back, I just didn't know how to say goodbye to my parents. But I knew, deep down, that you were the one I chose."_

_ He froze, his muscles seemingly locking into place and his heartbeat quickening._

_ Alarmed, Chihiro pulled away to look into Haku's face. The look of pure agony he wore was almost too much for her. She put her hands on both sides of his face, "What's wrong? Haku? Haku?"_

_ He remained frozen for a moment, his jade eyes burning into hers. Chihiro leaned in to kiss his lips, but he turned his head. _

_ "Haku, you're scaring me! What's wrong? Why won't you let me—"_

_ "Do you mean that?" His voice was barely audible. She couldn't see his face for the way his long sea-foam hair protected it, but she could see he was biting his lower lip._

_ "Mean what, Haku?" She reached for his face and when he turned back to look at her, she could see silent tears streaming down his cheeks._

_ "Do you really want to come back with me?"_

_ His voice was so broken, his eyes so full of disbelief and pain, that Chihiro couldn't stand it. She threw herself into his arms and wound hers around his neck, resting her forehead against his. "Yes," she nodded vehemently, "I want to come home, Haku. I want to be with you; I've made my choice."_

_ Haku slipped one of his hands behind Chihiro's neck as he pulled her closer, "Please, Chihiro, my love…"He whispered, tears still slipping from his closed eyes as he spoke only inches from her mouth. "Please never scare me like that again. I may be immortal, but there is only so much my heart can take. I never thought I would see you, conscious and awake, ever again. I thought I had lost you agai—"_

_ Chihiro put her fingers against his mouth to stop him, "I'm so sorry, Haku. If you'll forgive me— if you'll have me— I'd like to spend the rest of my life making it up to you."_

_ He laughed a little, "_If_ I'll have you?" Haku gripped Chihiro's face and kissed her deeply, winding a hand into her hair as he welded her mouth to his. He kissed her again and again, his tongue first caressing her lips before delving into her mouth and dancing with hers. It had been so long since he'd been able to kiss her like this, his whole body felt like it was on fire. She tangled her hands in his long sea-foam hair as she melted into him. In the brief moments where he freed her mouth so she could breathe, he whispered onto her lips, "I would have no one but you, Chihiro. I love you and only you, always."_

_ "So tell me… Haku…" Chihiro managed between his all-consuming kisses. Her breathing was ragged. "How do I… come home?"_

_ Haku smiled, pressing his lips against the soft flesh of her neck, "Just come back through the Spirit Gate when you wake up, my love. I'll be waiting for you on the other side."_

…

…

…


End file.
